I wish I could say that I scaled a huge sandstone butte and crawled through a patch of prickly pear cactus to get this photo, but it's taken from the visitor center parking at Monument Valley. Most photographers upon arriving here take this iconic image. To see the valley more intimately, you must be accompanied by a Navajo tribe member. Unfortunately we were late in the day and had to press on to Page, Arizona, but we've vowed to come back, stay at The View Hotel with breathtaking views of the valley and night sky and spend the time to appreciate the land and culture of the people who live here.

For the photo, I set up my 8x10 view camera with a 150mm Schneider Super Angulon lens - a really beautiful photographic pairing. We had awesome clouds that provided the painterly canvas backdrop in the sky. It's the reason I chose to shoot so wide angle in this format.

I have made 40"x60" prints of this image that come close to recreating the size of this immense landscape.

Zone VI Cherrywood 8x10, Schneider 150mm f/8 Super-Angulon with Center Filter on front of lens, Indicated exposure: 1/8 sec @ f/104, Kodak Wratten Gel Red #25 filter on rear lens element - 2 stops correction factor, Exposure given: 1/8 sec @ f/54 Kodak TXP 4164, EI 320, Lowest value placed on Zone IV, highest value fell on Zone VIII, Negative given N development, HC-110, Dil. B, Gitzo G1349 Mountaineer Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo 1576M Ball Head