NEVER GIVE UP ON GAP LIGHT
Sunset light slips through a gap in the clouds to warm Delicate Arch, viewed through Frame Arch, on a cold winter evening in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.
Last weekend my wife, son and I hiked to Delicate Arch on a cold winter afternoon under a featureless gray sky. Despite the uninspiring conditions I shouldered my fully loaded and offensively heavy f-stop Tilopa (best backpack for outdoor photography I’ve ever used!) and marched up the hill with all the other ants. The feeling of watching the sky ignite while standing camera-less before a jaw-dropping landscape is one I know too well, and I’m determined not to repeat it. Plus, carrying a heavy pack = more caloric burn which equals a bigger bowl of ice cream. So really, even if you lose, you win.
We arrived at Delicate Arch two hours before sunset to find the usual circus of tourists flying drones (illegally), striking poses under the arch and of course, photographers searching for the tripod holes of all the cameramen who came before them. Our motive was simple: get outside for a hike. We’re training for a spring backpacking trip at the Grand Canyon, an endeavor guaranteed to punish the unprepared. We hadn’t planned on staying for sunset, but Ma Nature began dropping subtle hints that she might be feeling generous tonight. For a moment, faint shadows appeared like gray ghosts across the landscape, cast there by shy sunlight peeking through a thin veil of clouds. This game of hide and seek continued for another hour, at times producing spotlights that danced elegantly across the desert. Surveying the sky I observed a sliver of light blue right at the horizon, and the sun was tracking directly toward it. Gap light, the name given to light that suddenly and brilliantly explodes through a narrow crack in clouds, is often responsible for exceptionally dynamic photography conditions. Given the potential for sunset bliss, I was in no hurry to leave.
Warm light finds a small gap between heavy clouds and the horizon that illuminates a large boulder and Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.
I’ve photographed the standard view of Delicate Arch framing the snowcapped La Sal Mountains while bathed in sunset light well over a dozen times. There are plenty of other interesting - and unique - opportunities for photographers willing to look for them. The image of Delicate Arch nestled within aptly named Frame Arch exists in my portfolio only on Fuji Velvia film. Despite multiple attempts in the last nineteen years to photograph this scene digitally, I’ve yet to create one with the same quality of light. With high hopes, I scrambled up to Frame Arch, only to realize that the smaller, lighter tripod I’d chosen to carry wasn’t tall enough for the composition I had in mind. After a couple rounds of tripod kung fu, I was able to wrestle it into a precarious position that worked, but I didn’t dare touch it for fear that it would topple over. All that was left was to wait, with fingers crossed, and hope my effort would be rewarded. I watched from above as many of the photographers I’d seen earlier give up and begin the walk of shame back to the trailhead.
Several minutes later, on the far horizon, the sandstone began glowing in shades of red and orange. The sun was finding the gap! I watched as the light moved swiftly toward Delicate Arch. I began shooting images every few seconds, using the Shutter app as a wireless trigger to avoid possibly knocking my tripod out of position. It was subtle, but noticeable, at first. Soft, warm light and lengthening shadows. Within seconds, the entire view before me was ablaze! And then, suddenly, it was over. The entire episode lasted a couple of minutes. I packed up my gear and the three of us decided to sneak around to the bowl below the arch, eyeing the clouds that appeared to be picking up shades of pink and orange. There, I discovered several large boulders and striated sandstone that made fantastic foreground subjects, with sherbet colored clouds draped over Delicate Arch like a vast, warm blanket.
A touch of alpenglow on the La Sal Mountains and soft light at Delicate Arch compete for attention with a pink sky at sunset in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.
We milked the moment for all it was worth, and then hiked down the trail in waning light, eager to defrost our bodies in the heated seats of my Land Cruiser. What’s the lesson here? Never give up on gap light. Don’t pack it up and retreat when the conditions look bleak. Keep your camera on the tripod, dialed into a compelling composition, and be ready to press the shutter button should sunlight blast through that narrow gap on the horizon. These are the moments in which truly special images are created, and you don’t want to be halfway to your car when they happen!
