Monument Valley Lightning Strike

      As 2023 rolled over into 2024 I began to stare down the reality that I would completely transitioned to digital capture. A 6 week trip was planned with my youngest son and his family to the Southwest for June of 2024. VicMom and I would spend the first 4 weeks in Yellowstone NP, up thru Montana and into Canada. At this point I had Sony’s most powerful mega pixel camera and I would borrow a 5×7 Deardorff film camera from a good friend. The two camera systems pitted against one another would provide the test if I could in fact leave the process oriented film genre of photography. The smaller more versatile Sony would provide easier access to make meaningful imagery with the B&W process to always remain darkroom processed Silver prints. Some might wonder, why not use both systems? For years my film camera formats were 5×7″ and 7×17″, I would learn over those 20+ years I would always bring both camera systems. This type approach stymied my creativity as far as having to decide what format is appropriate for a given image. As Father Time began peering into my window coupled with a 40+ lb. backpack didn’t project well going forward. One doesn’t simply retire from something they’ve been passionate about the majority of their adult life.

     My youngest son’s family met us 3 days earlier in Zion NP for their 1st experience in the South West.  On June 27, 2024 we drove to the View Hotel in Monument Valley arriving mid-day. By mid-afternoon the air grew thick and the skies were giving clue a storm was brewing. Our rooms were not yet ready so we stayed around the gift shop waiting. It became clear with rain now falling a storm was moving towards the iconic valley. How fast the storm moved was stunning, rain turned to sheets of water blowing sideways, so much so a video I took during that time frame the Mittens and any semblance of sandstone formations were nearly obscured, as seen in the short video below. I have joined several videos together below. Midway through the 50 second video is the second of 2 lightning strikes where this month’s image was captured of the last lightning strike. The video illustrates the devastating power and beauty of Mother Nature within minutes of one another. The video finishes with two still photos from dawn the next morning showcasing why Monument Valley is the Navajo nation’s most iconic treasure. The Valley has hosted well over a hundred movies beginning back in the 1930’s, from classic westerns to the Star Wars trilogy. My video has been loading in the background and should be ready to share the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen…by Far! The sound captured in the rain and lightning videos is actual real-time, while the lead in and exit sound is simply I-Movie background music.

     Around 4pm the hotel had lost power and the enclosed, unheated area of the patio was filled with guests simply watching the storm quickly move across the landscape.  Many were taking photos and videos by opening the door to wind and rain pelting their cell phones. I was able to get a turn at the open doorway so there would be no glass compromising the numerous cell phone videos I took. At this point the best option to tell the story of what was unfolding was a video with the Iphone 14 Pro.     When viewed from the South the West Mitten is on the left and Merrick Butte is on the far right with the East Mitten in the middle.  Thunder and Lightning made their presence seen and heard that afternoon. I took my turn at the open doorway in the hopes of capturing a lightning strike.  Sure enough, lightning hit directly behind the thumb of the East Mitten right as I started a video. In just a minutes time-stamp on the next video a lighting strike just behind the East Mitten creates the perfect symmetry making for a memorable image. A special friend and photographer herself would tell me that was a God Wink ! Interestingly, one of the white cars trying to get to higher ground never made it out that afternoon. The next morning a tow truck could be seen trying to extricate the vehicle from the red clay that can quickly can turn to a river of mud !

     With the video now in my phone I didn’t completely understand a still frame of the lightning strike could actually produce a quality still print. Over the next 8-10 months I would immerse myself in learning advanced Photoshop techniques. By springtime of 2025 I made a small print of the lightning strike and debuted the image at a photo show in April of 2025. The image was widely accepted and a lesson was learned, albeit, one I didn’t foresee having need for. Later in the summer of ’25 a dear friend and baseball coach extraordinaire wanted to see my portfolio of images. The Monument Valley Lightning Strike was a print he really responded too. Ultimately, that was one of the 3 prints he purchased. This month’s Story Behind Every Photograph is a longer version of the text I always include with any purchased artwork by collectors. As a follow-up, the next morning our 9am tour of Monument Valley was postponed until almost 10:30am due to the epic rainstorm and damage to the backcountry roads in Monument Valley from the afternoon before. 

        The Navajo locals called the storm, “Once in 100 Years”.