While road-tripping through Utah, I made a spontaneous stop at Goblin Valley State Park—an otherworldly landscape filled with wind-sculpted hoodoos that resemble creatures from another planet. The park’s name is well earned; it feels like stepping into a Martian playground carved by time and weather.
As I wandered through the maze of rock formations, this particular pair of “goblins” caught my eye. There was something oddly tender about the way they leaned into each other—like a couple caught in an eternal embrace, frozen in stone. It felt both intimate and alien, and I knew I had to capture it.
I photographed the scene using my Nikon D2X, modified for infrared photography. The resulting black-and-white image brings out the texture and contrast in the stone, stripping away color and enhancing the surreal mood of the moment. With the high desert light and infrared effect, the surface almost glows, giving these sandstone figures an eerie, ghostlike presence.
To me, this shot tells a quiet story of connection in an unlikely place—a pair of stone lovers standing side by side in the heart of Utah’s alien terrai