As a major thunderstorm threatened this high mountain valley in Utah, we went out photographing after work, hoping to catch some wonderful storm light. Little did we know how dramatic the lighting would prove, as low black clouds obscured the distant mountains and a patch of sun illuminated the foreground grasses.

I took a photograph of the fence, sky, and grasses; then in a moment of inspiration (and I have no idea where it came from), I asked Karen to step into the scene and pose next to the fence. And that made all the difference.

This photograph won an award in a Natural History Magazine photo contest and was later published in a calendar. It may be my most powerfully graphic photograph, and some say it is still my best. I don't know about that, but it is certainly a contender.

Lee Rentz