National Geographic featured work: Western Spirit

Framing an expansive blue sky, desert buttes, and a pair of majestic horses, Your Shot member Nora Feddal captures the essence of the American West in this image made while visiting Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which extends into both Arizona and Utah.

Traveling through the American Southwest always feels like stepping into something untamed and alive. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, stretching across the Arizona–Utah border, is one of those places where the landscape alone is breathtaking but it’s the wildlife that makes it unforgettable. When I came across these horses moving through the desert, framed by red rock buttes and an endless blue sky, I felt that familiar rush that comes with wildlife photography. You can’t stage it, you can’t rush it. You wait, you observe, and when everything aligns for a second, you press the shutter.

For me, photographing wildlife while traveling is about being present in places that still feel wild. The American West carries a quiet power, especially in Monument Valley, where the open range stretches for miles and animals move freely across the land. Capturing these horses in their natural environment wasn’t just about documenting a landscape, it was about honoring the rhythm of the desert and the life within it. Moments like this are why I travel, why I chase light before sunrise, and why wildlife photography continues to pull me back to the road.