The June photos were all about atmospheric conditions and showed a marked increase in quality of work, making it harder to decide which were my favorites. Nearly all the images were unique and engaging and made me feel like I was standing next to the photographer. The images all demonstrated fresh, new approaches with high technical quality. Three photos in particular inspired me this month:

(To see all photos submitted in June 2009 on Flickr, click here.)

There has been some comment on the latest Outdoor Photographer cover, an image of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah with a full moon within the arch. Some have posited that I added the moon digitally. In fact, it is a double exposure I shot on Velvia at the beginning of the millennium. OP was informed but that nugget of information didn’t make it into the caption. It’s amazing how exercised people get when they think you’re trying to put something over on them, but I’m the same way.

It would be impossible to create that image without a double exposure. If you shot such an image wide enough to encompass the arch, the moon would look like a dot. It required a telephoto for the moon and a wide-angle for the arch.