The Moki Dugway, Utah

We'd spent the whole day looking for light. We'd gone from the Goosenecks, to Johns Canyon, to Muley Point, but the entire day had been spent, as Valerie put it, "with the lights out." On our way down the Moki Dugway, one shaft of light slipped under the clouds and, very briefly, directed a spotlight into the Valley of the Gods. We pulled quickly off the road and stepped out to try to make something of it with two or three cameras . . . none of which had the lens to shoot such a scene. Suddenly, out of nowhere, zoomed a rented sport-ute, pulling up directly beside Valerie. Out jumped a Japanese guy. He walked up to her, handed her a camera that she said was worth more than our truck (it also had the lens we needed), and asked her in broken English to take a picture of him against the lighted VOG. She complied, and then handed the camera back to him. He said, "Goodbye," returned to the sport-ute, and zoomed away. A drive-by shooting if ever there was one.