03/02/2025
I shot this last November in Valley of Fire State Park. At the time, the scene felt pretty flat—muted colors, nothing too special—so I snapped a quick shot and moved on. But when I finally got around to editing it, I was surprised by how much color and depth were hiding in there.
I’ve been in the bad habit of taking tons of photos and letting them sit untouched on my hard drive. But the more I edit, the more I realize how much the process teaches me. Like with this shot—if I had recognized its potential, I would’ve taken the time to capture a separate, properly exposed foreground to avoid all the grain you see now.
