Douglas R. Winn Photography & Imaging

I was in Arches NP in April of 2005, about midway through a personal photo tour of the American southwest, when I witnessed an amazing visual phenomenon in the area called the "Fiery Furnace".  As the sun was setting I watched as a thunder cloud rested over the bare red-rock of the Fiery Furnace.  The cloud began to glow and became very active and I knew that this was going to be something very special.  I set up my tripod below the summit of the mountain and using my Pentax 67II camera with Velvia 50 Fujichrome film I framed the image to collect the ferocious cloud and the red rock crest of the Fiery Furnace ridge.  The sky turned dark and ominous as the thunder cloud grew to become red and violet and purple, and more threatening.  At the climax of this process the bottom of the cloud appeared to be on fire and the red rock glowed in harmony with the cloud.  The upper cloud seethed dark and the heart of the cloud emitted a sense of light as though it were alive.  The apocalyptic essence of the scene was awesome.