Morning Colors

This is an image I've tried to take for a long time, probably 20 years. Coalmine Canyon was just over an hour's drive from my home, and I would get up early and be there before sunrise to take some predawn and dawn pictures . . . and always failed to come home with an image I liked. Pretty place though, so I kept trying.

This was picture was from a clear morning after the evening monsoon last September. We camped there, I got up before the sun, walked to the edge, and this time it worked. I think I probably needed all those practice runs to finally figure it out . . . or maybe it was just spending the weekend with friends and knowing we'd already had some good light so I felt less pressure to actually get a picture. Whatever it was, the textures and colors finally came together in a way that helped me say how much I love this place.

Your thoughts and recommendations are always appreciated (and frequently incorporated), so thanks in advance.

Canon 5D2, 28-300 @ 119 mm, ISO 400, f/16, 1/4 sec