No matter how well we humans develop artistic skills, the hand of God will always supersede us, as evidenced in this photo captured in a slot canyon of the southwest United States. Long ago in antiquity, salt water oceans compressed sand beneath, forming sandstone. Eventually the oceans receded and the sandstone lay exposed to the elements of nature - sun, rain, and wind. After a while, cracks formed in the hard sandstone, allowing the inflow of water and wind.

The process that followed carved the sandstone into remarkable and beautiful shapes. In some places, deep canyons have been cut in the sandstone, known today as "slot" canyons. Both beautiful and deadly, great care must be taken when planning a hike down into such a place as this, because rain that falls miles away from the slot will come roaring at high speed, sweeping away everything in its path, and leaving behind trace evidence of its passing - as it did in case of this image, depositing a dried piece of tumbleweed high up on a ledge.

Photographers are drawn to these places, where uncommonly spectacular shades of color dance along the walls as the passing sun overhead creates shadows and reflections, and every captured image is unique in some way. I am often asked if the scene actually looked as beautiful as the image, to which no response will adequately describe the experience. How inspiring, to walk in the footsteps of the ancient ones who showed such respect for these places that nowhere have I seen so much as a single petroglyph. Perhaps the wind and water, the guardians of the canyon, took them away.