I used my spot metering mode to control exposure, and a 14mm super wideangle lens to stretch the scene and seize the golden light in the desert sky that seems to explode here just beyond my own back yard. I had only a few moments to make this image – the sun had just set behind me and the monsoon clouds reflected its flaming farewell to the day above the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Both sun and the clouds are in motion, and in photographs such as this one, seconds do count. This scene carries a dual message: some might see it as catastrophic, while others will cherish the artistry of nature’s own palette, expressed in the evening sky.