I’ve had plenty of time in airplanes recently, and this is the view of the desert just east of here in the Arizona desert. I have crossed this location several times, but never with this beautiful early morning light.
This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. Next week there will be a theme of Up In The Air. My photo next week will not be another aerial view….this is just a teaser. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions on how to join in, visit Leanne’s website.
Some places are just off limits in summertime. The canyons feeding into the Colorado River from western Grand Canyon on down towards Parker, AZ are all in that category. This is White Rock Canyon, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, just below Hoover Dam. Just like nearby canyons, the gravel in the bottom is your trail, the grade is very light, and the chances of wanting to take out your camera are very good.
You will find this photo along with the work of others on Leanne Cole’s site. There are also instructions on how to join in every week.
Earlier this year, I headed out to capture the sunrise at nearby Red Rock Canyon. I knew a storm front was moving in, and after hiking to reach this spot, it looked as though it might be a day without photos. Right at sunrise, the sun peeked through a tiny slice of an opening in the clouds. This lasted for about a minute, and the not-so-distant cliffs in the background (which I had hoped to capture that morning) never fully saw the sun.
My photo for this week’s Monochrome Madness comes from the closest forest to my home, on Mount Charleston. Australian photographer Leanne Cole hosts this event, and at the start of every month there is a theme week. In September, it was trees. I had several images for that category, and this was one that I didn’t include back then. My schedule became very hectic for a couple weeks, and I didn’t post my photo on my blog, even though you can see it on Leanne’s site.
Next week will be have the theme of in the open. If you’d like to participate, you can find instructions here.
After having spent most of July in Oregon and Hawaii, I have to admit I’ve been a bit uninspired to head out into the desert. Last week we had a beautiful day that started out with clouds and rain, and I made a relatively unplanned tour through the desert. One of my stops was at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge along the Great Basin Highway. I probably would have seen more wildlife if this hadn’t been towards the middle of the afternoon, but tall shade-providing trees, roads lined with sunflowers and small lakes were enough to soothe the senses. The breezes would occasionally find a lull, and the clouds were just enough to provide a little contrast for my photo here.
You can see this photo on Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.
Nice to have some time to post again. It’s my own fault – I told everyone that I wasn’t going to be available in July, so I’ve pretty much done 3 months work in the last 6 weeks. I haven’t been hiking or touched my camera for non-assignment work in 2 months. Thank God it’s July!
Summer usually doesn’t take its time getting to the desert. This was one of the most comfortable springs on record, but late June doesn’t hold its punches. Record and near record highs occurred for several consecutive days. During this time I happened to be listening to local news when they were talking about people coming to visit here and specifically, Death Valley, to experience the intense heat.
To those of you thinking of visiting for that reason – don’t! There’s a much simpler solution. Instead, turn your oven on to about 200 degrees. (Disclaimer: I don’t know who might be reading this, and don’t want to be contacting my attorney, so electric ovens only, not gas). Next, kneel in front of the oven with your face towards it, ensuring that your head recoils in reaction to the blast of heat. This is what all of us desert dwellers feel every time we step out of our air-conditioned cars and homes in late afternoon this time of year.
If that’s not enough discouragement, don’t visit here for the sake of the earth and our children. Jets fly on less fuel when they’re not carrying as much weight, and the car you’re not renting won’t be putting emissions into the air. Furthermore, you can take some of the money you’ll be saving and donate it to an environmental program that will prevent temperatures from reaching 125 degrees in the future.
For those of you wishing to visit for sane reasons, come on down! The heat wave is gone for now, and it’s almost pleasant again (in the mornings). It will be 103 to 108 every day for the foreseeable future, but most of those days won’t be hot (that’s according to the National Weather Service, see below).
A couple months ago, I returned to a favorite hike in Red Rock Canyon. This particular canyon has water year-round, and I spent a fair amount of time around where a small channel of water was flowing ever so slowly across the boulders.
When I schedule my flights, I try to arrange them so that I’m taking photos near sunrise or sunset. The colors are more saturated, and the shadows of even the smallest features become elongated. For this week’s challenge of shadow, I immediately thought of being up in the skies looking down, and my photo comes from somewhere northwest of Las Vegas.
There’s nothing I’d want to take a picture of in my neighborhood, but I can see this mountain clearly from my windows. For this week’s Daily Post Challenge of Local, I present to you a place I know by heart.
I was out here last week on a trail I have taken several times before. Back to the bristlecone pines, the ancient forest. As another dry year passes, and more people venture into the area, I am thankful there have been no major fires here. It seems there are no “helpful” fires any more – the kind that sustain a forest – just large devastating ones. In a normal winter, there will be snow lingering on this trail into May. I am hoping for a normal or above normal winter, but that doesn’t seem very likely….again. In the meantime, I try to get out to my local hangouts whenever I can.
Bristlecone Pines. The ancient forest. These majestic trees can live to be 5000 years old, and only grow at the highest elevations just below tree line. This particular group is from the Spring Mountains, near Las Vegas, Nevada, at an elevation just over 10,000 feet. Many of these can be twisted with stunted growth, usually on an exposed ridge where the dominant winds have a long term effect upon them. The overall straightness and height of this group made me stop for a photo.
This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. You can see the work of other’s on her site, as well as instructions on joining the challenge.
Hey, perfect timing Daily Post. I think this post fits the challenge.
With the 4th of July falling on a Monday this year, the fireworks displays were stretched out over three days in Las Vegas. Last year I was able to watch two displays from my vantage point, with those from the Stratosphere being further away. I remember there were some interesting patterns to that display, but were intended for a different viewing angle. I didn’t attend any fireworks on Saturday, but I did make it to the Stratosphere for Sunday night’s show. Although it was nice being that close, it wasn’t as good as I was hoping for from a photography standpoint, with many images being similar.
That left Monday night, and a return to last year’s vantage point. After the Stratosphere letdown, I wanted to make sure I got some images that were different from the previous year, and unique overall. The ‘tails’ were prominent again this year, so I spent a lot of time trying to avoid those, and just getting the burst of the explosions. No easy task. All my exposures were on Bulb setting using a cable release. The display seemed to start a little earlier this year, and the lingering daylight made for some nice shots.
I never thought of shooting fireworks purely as artwork before, but think I succeeded with the top image (looking like a flower), and this one.
Although I did get some similar shots to the previous year, I was very happy with my results this year.
The grand finale was no letdown, and this was my last shot of the night. Even though I was on Bulb setting, this was less than a 1 second exposure. That’s a lot going on for 1 second.
WordPress recently informed me that I have been on their site for a year now. To those of you who have followed, liked, commented or enjoyed my posts – Thank You!
It was a little over a year ago when I was spending way too much time on a computer because a leg injury was keeping me inactive. Those who know me know I don’t do well at sitting. I came across a page that explained why photographers should start a blog and listed some sites. I really had no idea what I was getting into, but I have a lot of photographs that never made publication, and many that have a story behind them. I was always disappointed when I came across other photographer’s websites and saw interesting images that had no words to convey the thoughts, motivation or process behind the image.
I suppose I should start with my title. Quite a few years ago, I had the chance to meet with Josef Muench. Josef was one of the pioneers of modern day landscape photography, and around that time an editor told me that Josef was still submitting photos to the magazine, some of which couldn’t be used because the emulsion had started to degrade. As I was talking with Josef, I asked him, “Out of all your photographs, which is your favorite?” He responded quickly with “The one I haven’t taken yet!” He was an inspiration with his images, but even more so with his philosophy. I want to reach that age and continue taking photographs that I still care about. That’s where the name Gottatakemorepix got its initiation.
I had a couple stories that I wanted to write when I first started, but I wasn’t sure how long I would keep this going. Then I started noticing blog posts that all had the words “Weekly Photo Challenge” in the title, and soon began posting those. I’ve participated in other blogger’s challenges, and as much as I enjoy seeing what other people respond with, I never knew how time consuming this could become. I also noticed a lot of people posting “Wordless Wednesday”. After doing a couple of these myself, I thought I can’t do this…I need words. So my alternative is Mid-week Mixings. This allows me to get away with Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, too! To those of you that post every day, my hat’s off to you – I don’t know how you do it.
If you don’t see a post from me for a while, it’s a good bet that I’m travelling or just plain busy. My priorities are still real life, family, and friends before cyberspace. My end of December and beginning of January were way too busy to do a 2015 recap, so I’m going to do it here.
Old fence on a ranch in the desert, photo by Steve Bruno
While the most liked/commented images were in the Daily Post’s Challenges, many of you enjoyed these images from one of Cee’s Challenges
This grasshopper shot was another challenge that the blogging community seemed to enjoy
grasshopper clings to agave plant, photo by Steve Bruno
The Daily Post’s Symbol challenge gave me a reason to go out and photograph something that everybody and their brother has a shot of, and when I got there, I discovered more subjects fitting the challenge
Elvis impersonator performs under the Las Vegas sign. Photo by Steve Bruno
Although not a challenge, but close to home, I enjoyed capturing fireworks last summer
Las Vegas Fireworks July 2015. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Away from the challenges, this one was a little departure for me, but has become one of my favorites, as well as yours
The Atlantic Ocean in early morning. Photo by Steve Bruno.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before that I really don’t enjoy shooting with clear blue skies, but I found a situation where it worked well
Crescent moon in the skies above an ocotillo plant in the Arizona desert by Steve Bruno
Late season bloom of yucca plants, as twilight approaches, in the Arizona desert by Steve Bruno
Weather is a little more to my liking for taking photos, and I showed this in one of my first posts of the year. I don’t know what grinder WordPress uses to compress images, but the first time I posted it did not look as good as it does on my screen. I like unique captures, and this is a favorite so far this year, and hopefully it looks better this time
A window of sunlight shines through clouds in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno
Sunset over Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno.
You know by now that I can’t resist the view out of airplane windows, and I have plenty of those from last year. Here’s one more that you haven’t seen yet. Over Montana, I believe
Aerial view over the Rocky Mountains. Photo by Steve Bruno.
I can’t go a year without returning to my Muse, and here’s one from last year at Valley of Fire State Park
Sandstone cave in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno.
And lastly, I know phone cameras have improved, but I still consider my DSLR my real camera. My shots in the rain in Seattle last November started making me appreciate the phone a little more
Pedestrian in the nighttime rain in Seattle. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Steve Bruno Photo 
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