This is on the shortlist of one of my favorite images this year. A scene I stumbled across as we were scouting for a good place to watch the Perseid meteor shower that evening. As we explored the area I looked up to the hills and saw this lone Joshua Tree standing in front of a massive looming monsoonal thundercloud. It was such a striking moment. I knew as I captured it, I wanted to process it in black & white. The image felt so compelling that I chose to also do a color version for my 2024 calendar because it felt odd inserting only one black & white image into the calendar. I also hastily named it “Looming” to finalize the calendar and send it to the printer.
However, as I sat with the photo longer, I felt the title was too focused on the cloud when instead I wanted to focus more on the Joshua tree standing firm in the path of this ominous cloud. So, when you see Looming in the calendar know that the black & white version is titled “Steadfast”.
If you’d like a print of this photo, you can save 20% on this and any print on my Etsy shop from now through the end of November 2023. My 2024 calendar is also available for just $24.99 (reg $27.77). All orders on Etsy $35 or more qualify for free shipping.