Sedona Red Rocks from Airport Vortex
Belt of Venus Above Sedona’s Iconic Peaks
There is a distinct reason why the Airport Vortex Overlook is one of the most visited spots in Sedona, Arizona. Perched high on a tableland right in the middle of town, it gives you a sweeping, unobstructed panorama of the surrounding dramatic red rock formations. I have shot from this ledge several times over the years, usually hoping for dramatic monsoon clouds or fiery light bouncing off the cliff faces. On this particular trip, though, my primary goal was to photograph the full moon rising.
As the sun sank below the western horizon, the sky didn't explode into deep reds or oranges, but it did something much gentler. The Earth's shadow began to creep up from the east, topped by a soft, glowing pink arch known as the Belt of Venus. The atmospheric phenomenon creates a pastel gradient in the sky that contrasts beautifully against the iron-rich Schnebly Hill Formation sandstone below. While the full moon was set to rise just out of frame to the right of this view, the tranquil light settled over the ridgelines and the faint patches of lingering snow in the shade, making for a serene landscape shot.
Geologically, those towering cliffs across the valley are a massive outdoor timeline. The striking red hues come from iron oxide—that weathered into the sandstone over hundreds of millions of years when this area was an ancient coastal plain. Today, millions of visitors flock here not just for the geology, but for the legendary Sedona "vortexes," which believers describe as subtle energy centers concentrated around formations like Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, and Bell Rock.
Then the Wolf Moon Rose
To capture the moonrise itself, all I had to do was step a few feet over to the backside of the vortex point. The view aligned right where the moon was climbing above the red rocks. There were at least a couple dozen others there enjoying the rising of thenWolf Moon but I was the only one with a camera and tripod. I was using my Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 lens zoomed to 100mm and aperture at f7.1. ISO was 200 and shutter 1/13 second. From experience I know to keep my shutter speed faster than ¼ second when photographing the moon, otherwise I’ll get some blurring as the moon moves faster than you might think.
Wolf Moon-Sedona, Arizona
A Note About RV/Van Camping Here
Camping in a camper van near Sedona used to be a breeze. For years, boondockers and RVers relied on the sprawling dirt tracks along Forest Road 525 just west of town. However, heavy traffic and overcrowding forced the Coconino National Forest to step in, banning open dispersed camping and restricting boondocking strictly to eight designated sites. With free camping now highly restricted, finding a hassle-free spot overnight in a van is a real challenge. Having explored Sedona multiple times, I think I'm content to leave this view in my archive and point my rig toward lesser-known corners of the American West.
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A serene twilight view of Sedona's red rock formations under the Belt of Venus, captured from the Airport Vortex before searching for the full moon rise.