Earth’s Perpetual Prayer

I shot this image with a Nikon D600 and a wide angle lens while attending a night photography workshop with Brad Goldpaint in May 2013. Brad light painted the arch for a group of six of us attending a workshop. Besides flashlights and headlamps there were no lights up on the slickrock. When Brad lighted painted Delicate Arch with a flashlight, the arch resembled the hands of the Earth in prayer to the heavens. I was in awe! The arch looked like praying hands. It was amazing and I couldn't get over how different the 45 foot-high arch looked at night when it was light painted. At an elevation of approximately 4,800 feet, the arch looked so small compared to the park's panorama and sky surrounding us. I hope my image gives viewers a sense of the awe and perspective I experienced sitting under the massive night sky soaking in the stars, meteors, iridium flares, and lightning and a storm in the distance.