America's most photographed sunrise

We spent almost a month in the National Parks of the United States. We often stayed overnight at great distances, partly because of the prohibitive prices of accommodation in the parks, partly because they are likely fully booked. And so, every time we wanted to witness to sunrise above the rocky beauty of the canyons, we had to face unlikely early wake-up calls in the middle of the night, hours driving in the dark, frantic search for a parking lot and a suitable observation point. Cherry on top, the bitter cold of the morning.

When we decided to go and photograph the sunrise at Mesa Arch, in the Canyonlands, staying in Moab, which took just over 45 minutes drive and to walk for less than 10 minutes, it seemed a privilege and a mirage. Too good to be true, you'll say. And indeed, it was!

We arrived at the end of the driveway, grabbed the tripod and the gears, and walked through the sand dunes. After a few steps we start to hear a suspicious voice, and after climbing over the last dune, we could barely catch a glimpse of the beautiful rocky arch, hidden behind the heads of a group of Japanese armed with all sorts of tripods and photographic equipment, with lenses flattened in front of the arch, without even a small space between them.

I would have liked some of them to photograph our faces at that moment, but we had the pleasure of looking at the astonished faces of some other photographers who came after us. Surreal situation, and maybe you will understand why we usually love the most difficult challenges, places that require more than just 10 minutes of physical effort to be reached, glimpses for the few brave who face ungrateful morning wake up and tiring hikes.

We managed to miraculously carve out a little corner, just for our tripod, squeezed to try to get two in one person's place.

Indeed, when the first sun began to shine on the lower arch of this natural sculpture, the spectacle was magnificent. The arch lights up bright orange, the sun's rays barely peep out behind the rock offering the cue to experiment with the opening of the diaphragm of the camera, and the canyon begins to take shape behind light planes and soft shadows.