A Promise Beneath the Arches
In 1983, I found myself standing at the base of Double Arch in Arches National Park—a young first responder with a bad ankle and an even stronger sense of wonder. The sandstone curves towered above me, glowing in the Utah sun, and I could already see the photograph I wanted to create. But between me and that perfect composition was a steep, uneven descent I simply couldn’t manage at the time. So I did what dreamers often do—I made a promise to return.
Years turned into decades. Life moved on, my ankle healed, and photography grew from a hobby into a calling. When I finally returned in 2017, eager to finish the story I’d started all those years ago, fate had other plans—the Double Arch area was closed for renovation. I left once more with the same unfinished dream echoing in my mind.
Fast forward to 2024. I made my third attempt, this time with experience and better gear. The light was perfect, the sky breathtaking—but my lens wasn’t wide enough. The shot I envisioned simply wouldn’t fit. I stitched together a panorama, only to discover later that parallax distortion ruined the image. Close, but not quite.
Then came 2025. A government shutdown threatened to close the parks, but Arches stayed open just long enough for me to try again. With my wide-angle lens and years of lessons behind me, I stood once more before those twin spans of stone. As I set up my tripod and looked through the viewfinder, I couldn’t help but smile—the juniper in the foreground had aged, twisted, and weathered, much like me.
This time, everything aligned. The light, the lens, the patience, and the quiet persistence that only comes with time. When I finally pressed the shutter, I wasn’t just capturing a landscape—I was honoring a forty-year promise to myself.
The finished image now hangs on my wall, not as a trophy, but as a reminder: some visions take decades to fulfill, and that’s what makes them truly worth the wait.
