“Solitude”

This is my favorite place on earth — Chimney Rock, also known as Camel Rock, which sits astride the Colorado / Wyoming border south of Laramie. The rock itself is about five feet into Colorado, but the hill it sits on straddles both states. The picture was taken from Wyoming, looking south into Colorado. My grandparents homesteaded the ranch here in 1932 after having their 4500 acres foreclosed by family members during the great depression. Land in this general vicinity has been in my mother’s family since 1880, when my great-great-grandparents came from Prussia.

I waited 40 years for just the right sunset for this photograph — sunsets like this are rare, since the color is normally in the west, and this is the view to the south. I was fixing roofs at the ranch with my friend Robert, and the sunset of the century occurred, allowing me not much time to get my tripod set up. This isn’t the first time I attempted this shot, but it’s the first time I liked the results.

I like simple compositions. This is among the simplest photographs I have ever taken, and probably the most striking — quite possibly my favorite to date.

The way it glows, you can use this photograph to heat up your bedroom. Why not take it home today?

Winter, 1996 - Near Laramie, Wyoming