For several years the American West has endured epic forest fires and the smoke that accompanies them. For this photograph I was near an old homestead in Dinosaur National Monument watching the sun grow redder with fire smoke as it neared the horizon. I had the idea of photographing one of the last autumn purple asters in front of the fire sun, and this was the result. I have a special fondness for purple asters: when my wife and I married some 50 years ago, we gathered wild asters as our wedding flowers on the morning of the event. She wore some in her hair and we passed them out to all the guests entering the wedding.

Location: Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, USA