April 2016

Month

WPC: Abstract

The Daily Post Challenge for Abstract might just be my favorite one yet. I used to consider it the greatest compliment when someone would look at one of my images and say “That’s a photograph? That doesn’t look real!” Nowadays that usually means someone didn’t know when to say no to Photoshop.

The top photo is one I call Sandstone Wall Watercolor. This is straight off the film, no effects added. It was taken in a canyon where water was working its erosional magic, and the sunlight was just out of frame and bouncing light all around.

I have a few more favorites in the gallery below. Some are obvious as to what they are, some not so much. Details are in the captions in the gallery.

Reflections in West Clear Creek, Arizona

Wash patterns, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Sandstone detail, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

Bristlecone Pine root detail, Mount Charleston, Nevada

April 24, 2016 9

Monochrome Madness: MM3-1

If there is one plant that distinguishes the Mojave Desert from other deserts, it would have to be the iconic Joshua Tree. In many locales, they often appear dehydrated and scraggly, and very much unphotogenic. The healthier ones tend to appear in large forests as though there is strength in numbers. Oddly enough, California’s Joshua Tree National Park is not the best place to find these. Select pockets in Arizona and Nevada have the best ones I’ve come across, and it can be even more memorable if you are lucky enough to catch these plants in bloom.

This one was near the town of Searchlight, Nevada, and the sky was perfect this day for my backdrop to several large healthy Joshua Trees. Leanne Cole has included this photo with the work of others in this week’s Monochrome Madness. Check out her WordPress blog for MM, or her blog on her website for more photos.

April 13, 2016 5

WPC: Landscape

This week’s challenge of Landscape should have been a no-brainer, with the only dilemma being which one? A glance through my blog will reveal many shots of the nearby desert, but there are a couple places in the US that I love to photograph which are miles away from here. The state of South Dakota, in particular the Black Hills and Badlands National Park, would be near the top of that list.

A few years back, my work was in a gallery where the owner was interested in testing out new images. Unfortunately, this was in a town with many golf courses nearby, and after a couple weeks, he took this one down because people kept commenting, “What a great place that would be to put a golf course”. Hopefully, the blogging community will appreciate this one more than the golfers!

April 1, 2016 19