Home > Fine Art Prints > Black & White Gallery > > Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

This Fine Art Desert Print of "The Wave 2" is just a small sampling of the incredibly diverse desert scenery that exists on the Utah - Arizona border within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.  In my research that I did prior to this trip, I discovered some very nice images of this particular formation ("The Wave 2") and also it's more popular cousin, "The Wave." The remarkable shapes and patterns of these formations captivated my photographic imagination and I could hardly wait to explore this area (The Coyote Buttes on the Paria Plateau) on my own, to see how I could interpret this astounding beauty with my camera.  In order to gain access to this area, you must go through a lottery system at the Paria Ranger Station on the day prior to your planned hike.  If you are NOT one of the lucky ones who wins, you must come back again the next day, or the next day... and so on until you win your permit.  Being of Irish descent, I felt this shouldn't be too difficult... well, four lotteries later, I finally got my day permit!  It was well worth the wait as it gave me additional time to explore some of the other scenic treasures in this phenomenal area such as the Wahweap Hoodoo's.

I captured this image with my 40 mm wide angle lens about an hour prior to sunset, and it is another example (see "Sand Dunes/ Amargosa Range") of how you can create extremely dramatic images with this type of lens.  I particularly like the perceived flowing motion of the delicate sandstone ridges which guides your eye toward the central formation which is then kept in balance by the ridges on the left and right sides of the image.  The addition of the turbulent spring thunderheads brings a powerful conclusion to the image.  This is another of my images that is exceptional when viewed in color, but it retains a more emotional personality when viewed as a black and white print.