Hello Reader !

I planned for weeks.

Round trip: 4,495 miles.

Dozens of carefully researched locations pinned on my map.

What I did not plan for?

The relentless obstacles that would block me from reaching half of them.

A snowstorm... in the desert.

Road closures without warning.

Flash floods washing out access roads.

Every curveball Mother Nature could throw.

Which left me staring at a surprising dilemma.

How was I going to fill four unexpected days that suddenly opened up in my schedule?

Turns out... that "problem" worked massively in my favor.

One location didn't deliver the way I'd envisioned it.

Sure, I captured the shot I came for...

But I wanted clouds.

Drama painted across that sky.

Mood.

Atmosphere.

Something with actual weight to it.

So I went back the next morning.

Complete failure.

Flat light.

Boring sky.

So I went back again. And again. And again.

Five straight days at the exact same location.

On day five, I finally... finally... got the shot I'd been chasing.

But here's the thing... I didn't just show up and wait around doing nothing when the light refused to cooperate.

Each morning the conditions disappointed me, I kept working the scene anyway.

Fresh perspectives.

Pulling back wide.

Zooming in tight.

Different angles.

Shifting right.

Moving left.

By the end of those five relentless days, I'd accumulated dozens of keeper images.

One of those mornings was 90 percent blanketed in thick overcast.

Zero sunrise colors painting the horizon.

At least not at the spot I'd planned to shoot.

But when I pivoted 45 degrees to my right, I saw something that looked ripped straight out of Mordor from Lord of the Rings...

Dark. Ominous. Apocalyptic.

Nine minutes later, Mother Nature decided to flip a switch.

The cloud cover began cracking open.

Brilliant sun rays exploded upward, beaming straight into the sky like searchlights piercing the heavens.

When I first witnessed it unfolding, my jaw literally dropped.

I didn't even touch the shutter button for a solid two minutes.

I just stood there... present... drinking it all in... watching the light show.

But on day two of those five days, I created what instantly became a top ten all-time favorite.

Not planned.

Not expected.

Not even on my shot list.

As the moment developed in front of me, it hit me like lightning.

The sun was rising in the absolute perfect position behind a saguaro.

So I quickly dialed in these settings: f/8 | 1/500th | ISO 100

The goal?

A clean, sharp starburst.

Aperture is a critical piece of the puzzle here.

f/8 or smaller creates those defined rays, like...

f/11 sharpens them even more...

f/16 makes them really pop.

The angle of the sun relative to your lens also matters tremendously.

And it helps massively if the sun is partially blocked by something solid. Like the arm of a towering saguaro...

Immediately after capturing that frame, I shifted my feet slightly to the left.

Maybe eight and a half inches.

Just enough to completely block the sun behind the cactus and transform the glow wrapping around its edges.

A heartbeat later, I stepped back a few feet.

And I flipped the camera for a horizontal composition.

All three distinct photographs created in under four minutes.

When the dust settled on this leg of the trip, I'd fired off over 300 images.

After my brutal first cull, 224 survived the cut.

I can easily slash that in half without breaking a sweat.

And half of those remaining shots will become educational tools... the mistakes, the experiments, the "here's exactly what not to do" teaching moments.

Once I make the genuinely tough choices and eliminate everything that doesn't absolutely earn its place, I should land somewhere around 20 to 25 really exceptional photographs.

The lesson hammered home over those five stubborn days?

Never stop shooting.

If the light isn't cooperating, change your angle.

If there are zero clouds in the sky, shoot it anyway... you might discover something unexpected.

If clouds completely smother the scene, hunt for something more dramatic in a different direction.

If heavy clouds block sunrise or sunset entirely, stay patient and alert...

...Mother Nature might crack open a window of impossible light exactly when you've given up hope.

Get the shot you came for.

Then move your feet.

Flip to vertical.

Zoom in closer.

Step back wider.

Try a completely different angle.

There's always something more waiting to be created.

You just have to stay curious enough... and stubborn enough... to find it.

​
Have an awesome day!

Chris Parker

Parker Photographic

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