Monument Valley, Arizona–Utah · The Mittens and Merrick Butte at dusk
Desert Sunset
The sun was going down over the desert as the moon rose above it. For a few minutes the buttes burned red, the sky turned to deep blue, and the whole valley seemed to hold its breath.
Sun sinks into the desert,
the bright moon gazes back.
Tenderness, so brief,
stretches the weathered ages long —
a sorrow beyond all time,
one song sung for a thousand years.
About Monument Valley
Monument Valley straddles the Arizona–Utah border inside the Navajo Nation, where it is protected as Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Its red sandstone buttes rise hundreds of feet straight out of the desert floor, the remains of a plateau worn away over millions of years.
This frame holds the valley’s three most famous formations: West Mitten Butte on the left, East Mitten Butte in the center, and Merrick Butte on the right. The dirt road winding through the foreground is the Valley Drive, and the tiny vehicle on it shows just how vast these towers are.
For landscape photographers, the magic happens in the last minutes of daylight. The buttes catch a final red glow while the desert floor falls into shadow and the sky shifts from teal to deep blue. On nights near a full moon, the moon rises over the scene, as it did here.
《大漠夕阳》
摄于美国西南 ｜ 纪念碑谷
夕阳沉入大漠，明月从山岩之上升起。短短几分钟里，巨岩被染得通红，天空化作深蓝，整个山谷仿佛屏住了呼吸。
大漠夕阳，
明月相望。
柔情短暂，
拉长沧桑。
旷世忧伤，
千古一唱！
关于纪念碑谷
纪念碑谷（Monument Valley）横跨美国亚利桑那州与犹他州交界，位于纳瓦霍族保留地内，以纳瓦霍部落公园的形式受到保护。红色砂岩巨岩拔地而起，高达数百英尺，是古老高原历经数百万年风蚀后留下的遗迹。
画面中是纪念碑谷最著名的三座岩丘：左为西手套岩（West Mitten Butte），中为东手套岩（East Mitten Butte），右为梅里克岩（Merrick Butte）。前景蜿蜒的土路是谷中的 Valley Drive 环线，路上那辆小小的车，衬出了巨岩的磅礴尺度。
对风光摄影师而言，最动人的是日落前后的短短几分钟：巨岩被最后一抹余晖染红，大地沉入阴影，天空由青绿渐变为深蓝。若逢满月前后，月亮会在此时升起，正如这张照片。
