"Eruption of Light" by Bodhi Smith

Aug 19, 2022

"eruption of light" is another re-release of mine (originally from over 10-1/2 years ago on february 17, 2012) with a brand new updated blog...
 
"luminous and glowing from the morning sunlight, it was as if the rocks had erupted into flowing red lava and were spewing their own inner beauty all over my impression" ― bodhi, eruption of light
 
“in the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary" ― aaron rose 
 
"it is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake" ― lord george byron
 
 "nothing can dim the light that shines from within" ― maya angelou
 
"when you see mesa arch glowing at sunrise for the first time, you understand now why you came this way, you know exactly what it was you came here to see" ― bodhi, eruption of light
here is a great tune about an eruption, and exactly what could be done about it, get fun-loving and humorous tune by one of my all-time favorite musical artists ... "volcano" by jimmy buffett and the coral reefers ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"now i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow. let me say now i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow...ground she's moving under me. tidal waves out on the sea. sulfur smoke up in the sky. pretty soon we learn to fly. let me hear ya now, i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow...now my girl quickly say to me: mon you better watch your feet. lava come down soft and hot. you better lava me now or lava me not. let me say now i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow....no time to count what i'm worth. because i just left the planet earth. where i go i hope there's rum. not to worry monsoon come. now i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow. one more now i don't know, i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow...but i don't want to land in new york city. don't want to land in mexico (no no no). don't want to land on no three mile island, don't want to see my skin aglow (no no no). don't want to land in commanche sky park, or in nashville, tennessee (no no no). don't want to land in no san juan airport, or the yukon territory (no no no). don't want to land in no san diego. don't want to land in no buzzards bay (no no no). don't want to land on no ayotollah, i got nothing more to say...i don't know. i don't know. i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow. just a one more, i don't know (he don't know). i don't know (i don't know, man). i don't know where i'm a gonna go when the volcano blow" ― jimmy buffett and the coral reefers, volcano
 
"the underbelly of mesa arch has its own a gorgeous luminescence, it's like the morning sunlight from behind is making each rock erupt into glowing red lava, flowing across my impression" ― bodhi, eruption of light 
----------------------
 
MEANING
"it's the brilliantly glowing red rocks here that's the main attraction, not the arch itself. everything else is just an afterthought, another witness to the glorious light show you came to see in the first place" ― bodhi, eruption of light
 
this image carries a lot of deep meaning for me...this is the impression, my first big hit that helped put my name on the photography map. it quickly became my best seller, and to this day still is one of my top sellers...
 
but more so, for a bigger reason...for a truly great friend of mine, the esteemed photographer Richard "Dick" Cronberg, this image was his definitive favorite photo of mine. he even had a copy of it hanging in his home. Dick was the one who helped name this image when i first edited it, i was looking for something special to call it...Dick simply said the picture looked like a volcanic eruption, to which i said it was like an eruption of light, and hence the name was born...
 
Dick was a father figure for me, but more importantly he always was there when i needed someone, especially when i needed that something "else"  or "x- factor" with my photography...he helped me get over the time of low self-esteem with my photos, a time about ten years ago when i thought my stuff just was not good enough. he always seemed to say the right thing at the time when i needed to hear it...we were each born under the astrological sign of leo and we always had a connection...
 
i loved Dick's photos of birds and his coyotes, he was truly a gifted photographer with a profound vision for his art. he was honored with having numerous images, especially his birds, being on display at the smithsonian institute in washington d.c...and i would help him out with things whenever i could...helped him to better manage his online presence and create a viable web-based storefront...
 
we would always meet up somewhere and have long meaningful talks about things--photography, business, family, relationships, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything--over a cup of coffee he would buy for me, although i hate coffee and i never drank a single cup (inside joke)...it was a deeply meaningful friendship and i always thought he would live forever...
 
gonna miss you my friend, your void is immense for me and everyone whose life your touched and unselfishly helped...tears flow full of sadness, mixed with a smile of how beautiful a person and friend you were...i know your resting place has a beautiful view complete with a tree and bird feeder above it to invite the winged buddies you loved so dearly to photograph...rest in peace my friend, maybe we will cross paths again somewhere, somehow...
 
i forever dedicate this image, "eruption of light," to the memory of Richard "Dick" Cronberg (august 18th, 1942-july 26th, 2022)...a beautiful father, husband, mentor, animal lover, photographer, and friend...
 
"no degree of worldly darkness can extinguish the glow of a soul’s inner light" ― wes fesler
......................
 
"eruption" is defined by merriam-webster as:
1. an explosion of fire resembling lava from a volcano
2. the act of bursting from limits or restraint; breaking forth
 
pictured here is mesa arch at sunrise in late winter of 2012. the arch is located close to moab, utah in canyonlands national park. it's a beautiful place to watch sunrise, as the underside of the arch glows bright red when the sun hits it just right in the morning...for many years, word has been out about this spot, and with its super short hike and easy access, it has become one of the most visited and crowded destinations in all of the american southwest...
 
literally millions and millions of photos have been taken of mesa arch at sunrise. pretty much every professional landscape photographer has their own version of this arch somewhere in their photography portfolio...
 
when i shot this image over ten and a half years ago, the location was not overrun with photogs and busloads of tourists as it is now...it was peaceful and calm, i was the only photographer there on this morning (albeit it was in not in peak vacation season being february when the temps we a bit chilly at 20F), and i even took my doggie, the dude, down to the arch with me (it's not legal now to take any pets to this location, or on any trails in canyonlands national park)...
 
and it's amazing that my image, "eruption of light," still holds up to the test of  time by staying original. i've not seen another try to capture the arch as i did, making it appear to be more like looking out of a glowing cave rather than looking at an arch...everyone else seems to want to take a picture showing the whole arch, including its view of the three sisters and canyons below. thus turning the arch into sort of a window with a view, yet unintentionally in the process they're really de-emphasizing the glowing rocks of the arch...
 
but the arch is not the reason why i first came here to see this place...it's for those magically glowing reddish-orange rocks...
 
"luminous and 
glowing from the 
morning sunlight, 
it was as if the rocks 
had erupted into 
flowing red lava and 
were spewing their 
own inner beauty 
all over my 
impression" 
 
you come to this location to see the rocks light up and glow at sunrise, the arch itself is just an afterthought, a venue for the event to happen. the entire reason you find yourself at this spot at this time of day is not for the arch, it's for that special lightshow from mother nature that you're here to see with your own eyes, it's simply magical eye candy...
 
the underbelly of mesa arch has its own a gorgeous luminescence, it's like the morning sunlight from behind is making each rock erupt into glowing red lava, flowing across my impression...and now my photo appears to have a backlight behind it, and extra hidden light making it glow extra, but that is not the case, as it is just the radiance of the rocks shining bright...
 
to me, it's really the highlight of the glowing rocks that makes my image special, and that's the reason for being at this spot when first light hits the underside of the arch...it's then that the rocks magically transform into a beautifully unique sight to behold...when you see mesa arch glowing at sunrise for the first time, you understand now why you came this way, you know exactly what it was you came here to see...
 
i could not think of a better song to accompany my blog today than this song by the late eddie van halen. although it bears no words or lyrics it's still deeply soulful, spiritual, and beautiful, it helps connect meaning and bridge understanding with the deeper ideas behind my impression and blog today... "eruption" by eddie van halen ... (just click on any of the words in the powder blue links to listen to the tune and watch the video) ...

"i said girl, you really got me now, you got me so I don't know what I'm doin'. yeah, you really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night. you really got me now. you got me so i don't know where i'm goin'. (oh yeah) you really got me now. you got me so i can't sleep at night. you really got me, ooh. you really got me, yeah. you really got me...oh see, don't ever set me free, i only wanna be by your side. girl, you really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night. you really got me now, you got me so i don't know where i'm goin' now. oh yeah, you really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night. you really got me (no), you really got me, you really got me. let's interact...well look who's doing the call of the city, look who's coming through the side. people tell me there ain't no reason why. they all see why they ain't mad at times. she's havin' a good time, alright! he's a workin', he slaves his life away, yeah. he slaves his life away...yeah i said girl, you really got me now, you got me so i don't know what i'm doin'. girl, you really got me now, you got me so i can't sleep at night. you really got me now. you got me so i don't know where i'm goin'. oh yeah, you really got me now, you got me so i can't sleep at night. you really got me, yeah. really got me, you really got me, ooh" ― van halen, eruption/you really got me now
 
"seeing this eruption of light glowing bright red from these rocks is magical eye-candy...i might have a big distaste for the exponential numbers who come each day to see this event, but how can i blame them?" ― bodhi, eruption of light
----------------------
 
MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING
"don’t chase these mystical experiences or feelings of light. like most things, they will change. they will disappear. they aren’t meant to stay...they are meant to be teachers. they show us what is possible, and give us hope that we can find our way home" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha
 
"marvelous is the eruption of contradiction within the real" ― louis aragon

"no degree of worldly darkness can extinguish the glow of a soul’s inner light" ― wes fesler

"listen to the inner light; it will guide you. listen to the inner peace; it will feed you. listen to the inner love; it will transform you" ― sri chinmoy

“gorgeous, glowing rays of light…this was what true beauty and goodness looked like– a spectral, luminescent gathering of love so pure it hurt to look directly at it, like the most glorious eclipse, or maybe heaven itself" ― lauren kate

"even the sun directs our gaze away from itself, to instead look at the life illumined by it" ― eberhard arnold

“beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart" ― khalil gibran, the prophet 
 
"love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. and when it subsides, you have to make a decision. you have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. because this is what love is. love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. no, don't blush, i am telling you some truths. that is just being "in love", which any fool can do. love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident" ― louis de bernieres, corelli's mandolin
 
" there’s no such thing as the light at the end of the tunnel, you must realize that you are the light " ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul  
----------------------
 
ABOUT THIS IMPRESSION
"dick simply said the picture looked like a volcanic eruption, to which i said it was like an eruption of light, and hence the name was born" ― bodhi, eruption of light
 
this impression was captured over ten and a half years ago in the winter of 2012 during a chilly sunrise at mesa arch in canyonlands national park near moab, utah. it's comprised of six separate images merged together into one composition. photos were taken consecutively at 7:21am on february 17, 2012 (f/7.1@21mm for 7 secs, iso-100) x 6 and then stitched together using the photomerge function in adobe photoshop...
 
"you were blessed with 84,600 seconds today, have you used one of them to say thank you?" ― bodhi, blessed
 
"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhi, if 
 
"i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses" ― bodhi, into my photo
 
"my photography is my way of keeping a diary " ― bodhi, my diary
 
"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty, content to be completely incomplete. stop the rush. slow down time. breathe and notice. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this higher moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colours of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhi, my world
 
leave you today wishing that bright joy 
and spiritual peace fill your life...
imploring you to make every moment count, 
no matter what, always and forever, 
for that is the only thing that truly matters...   
 
and above all else,
i hope this message and impression find you well.
 
namaste,
bodhi
-------------------------------------------------

please visit me at:

http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.instagram.com/bodhismith
http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi.Impressions

#spiritual #glowing #eruption #light #mesa #arch #moab #utah #canyonlands #progreyusa #benro #dolica #nikon #d850 #lowepro #red #rock #sunrise #2012 #inspiration #believe #faith #hope #namaste #impressionist #expressionist #bodhi #buddha #rumi #cronberg