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 by Alain Briot
Totem Pole, Monument Valley
Mood as source of inspiration
I visited this location several times prior to creating this image.  However, each time the light was flat, the sky cloudless and I did not feel inspired to create a photograph. 
This particular time things were vastly different.  A sandstorm was blowing through the valley and storm clouds were moving rapidly in the sky. I was immediately stunned by the quality of the light:  the sand suspended in the air created a soft golden glow; the light was diffused yet direct.  It was midday and shadows were noticeable but not as harsh as they usually are at that time of day.  The clouds were moving fast over the valley, creating a sense of urgency because each interesting compositions created by the cloud patterns lasted only for a couple of minutes.
When I arrived at the spot where I took this photograph, the light had taken a soft and almost golden quality, a consequence of the ...

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Alain Briot
Alain Briot
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Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, raw conversion, optimization, printing and marketing. Alain is the author of Mastering Landscape Photography, Mastering Photographic Composition and Marketing Fine Art Photography. All 3 books are available from Alain’s website as well as from most bookstores. You can find more information about Alain's work, writings and tutorials as well as subscribe to Alain’s Free Monthly Newsletter on his <a href="http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/">website</a>. You will receive over 40 essays in PDF format, including chapters from Alain’s books, when you subscribe.
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