Dead Horse Point affords you stunning views, with a vertigous gooseneck overlook you can stare down and across into the Canyonlands wonderland vista of mesas and buttes — back through geological time.
After stumbling around the cliffs in the dark for an hour (watching that 1000ft drop mind) I found these 3 rocks, which made ideal foreground fodder.
dead horse point at sunrise | canyonlands
After some shuffling around I managed to position the rocks in an attempt to to take the eye diagnolly across the frame to the left, where the eye can pick up the Colorado and track right following the river gooseneck.
Whether it works on no, you tell me, as that was the intent. I’ve been experimenting with diaognal and S shaped compositions, and am finding these make for bolder shots and seem to ‘click’ more in my head when I look at them.
This is the best shot of the trip so far. Possibly, my favourite exposure yet (ever). Everything came together.
The backlit sun on the pinon, the fact the Colorado’s waters were deathly still affording an amazing reflection of the sunlight ridge, the low warm winter sun side-lighting the edges of the buttes in deep crimson.
I ended up sitting there for about an hour after sunrise, just in awe of the scenery, and watching the light creep over the landscape.
If I was being fussy, the sun could have been further south-east so as to sidelight the foreground rocks more than that one catch-light on the far boulder, and having checked the Photographers Ephemeris, that looks to be later in the year. Oh, well I’ll have to go back then 
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