Moth Eye Pollen Rim Light on New Mexico Ridge

Pale winter light breaks over a wind-scoured sandstone ridge, where thin fog hangs low across the terrain. In the immediate foreground, a moth sits in deep shadow against the brightening sky. A sharp line of cool light traces the curve of its compound eye, turning the dark facets into a mosaic of faint reflections. Fine yellow pollen grains rest on the insect's fuzzy thorax, glowing against the gloom. The texture of the stone behind the moth is coarse and eroded by wind, while the air remains still enough to hold the delicate particles in place. At the edge of a wing scale, a single grain of pollen catches the faintest glint of the rising sun.