After a hike in a deep, cool slot canyon, Terri and I had to cross many miles of open sandy wash in the searing afternoon heat. By the time we got back to the car, we were sweating and thirsty and appreciating what desert plants and animals must suffer through to survive.
Almost at the car, I spotted a wonderfully shaped tree growing out of the sand in the full sun. The trunk had split and separated with the stresses of the desert; the resulting tree was shaped like a crude sickle covered with tough rusted yellow bark.
Lying on my back in the hot sand and squinting up at the sky, I used a wide angle lens to exaggerate perspective and fill the frame with the twisted tree trunk. I like how this photograph practically crackles with energy – it looks a little like a bolt of lightning striking out of the clear blue sky.
Crooked Tree: Little Wildhorse Canyon, UT, 2003