Blue Sky and Yellow Field, Idaho

This is one of these pictures that really needs no explanation. So I’ll give you one. I’ll put it in context. I had an assignment to photograph Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve. This place is so aptly named that some of the first astronauts were sent there to experience it to prepare them for the moon itself. There is no color there. Everything is gray and if you look very closely you might see colored lichen, but the overall feeling is gray, gray, gray. I got there early, and watched the light change all day. I was overcome by the bleakness of it and stayed till it closed up. I always thought it was weird that a national monument would close at 6:00. But nothing surprises me with rules and regulations anymore. I left grumbling to Gabe, my assistant. Gabe was a Honduran Indian, quiet, totally dependable, and mischievous. As we left Craters of the Moon, we turned onto the main road and this image is what I immediately saw. “Oh my god, color!” I grabbed my camera, ran