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.
This week’s Daily Post Challenge theme is Mirror, and as with many bloggers, I have photos of calm bodies of water. Who can resist pointing the camera towards nature’s reflections? Those weren’t the only ones I came across, and I realized I have more of these than I initially thought I would. Here are some of my favorites.
I usually had my camera along with the dogs out for an excursion, and in these shots, I noticed some reflections.
One happy dog
Another happy dog
In modern buildings, the glass surfaces almost always offer a mirrored image, and here are a couple favorites from Calgary, Alberta.
Calgary Tower looking down 9 Ave SW – Calgary, Alberta
The Bow, Calgary’s tallest building, reflects summer afternoon skies
With that much volume of water in motion, large rivers seem like an unlikely place to find a mirrored surface. Despite that, early morning on the Colorado River in Marble Canyon in Grand Canyon, Arizona can look like this.
In my backyard (relatively speaking), I have a couple spots I enjoy hiking in Red Rock Canyon, where I came across these mirrored surfaces.
Small pool reflects cliffs beyond at sunset in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
Small stream in Calico Hills of Red Rock Nevada
One of my favorite places that I’ve ever hiked, West Clear Creek in Arizona, usually has a breeze moving through the canyon. Early mornings can be very calm, and pools can be glasslike.
reflections disappear into darkness in a deep part of West Clear Creek Canyon, Arizona
Forests and cliffs of West Clear Creek Canyon, Arizona
Mountain lakes with reflections appear to have proliferated my files without me being aware of it. Here are some in that category.
Maroon Bells, Colorado at sunrise
small lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
aspen trees along a pond near Flagstaff, Arizona
One image that always made me look twice was this one from Coyote Buttes. There is no water or reflection here, but I felt like the illusion was there.
I have one photo of an actual mirror. This is the MMT (Multiple Mirror Telescope) at the Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. During daylight, this telescope dish is tilted down and pointing northward. This was around the summer solstice, and at sunset, when the sun was at its furthest point north. As I walked by, this cool mountain air had a hotspot about 20 degrees warmer from the sun just grazing the edge of this dish array. I can’t imagine the destruction if this thing were aimed in the slightest degree towards the sun.
Finally, a little bit about the featured image. That’s Saguaro Lake, on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. It’s usually a crowded place, especially in summertime. This happened to be in winter, after a couple days of rain. It’s a fairly sizeable body of water, and this reflection has to be a rare moment, and the absence of people, even rarer. This photo will always have a special place in my memories. It was the first one I ever had published.
This is one of those rare times when the last shot of the morning turns out to be my favorite. I had been up for sunrise, near that hill in the lower part of the frame. The first minutes of daylight had a powerful glow, with just enough clouds to add some life to the scene. As the morning progressed, the light continued to change with the building clouds. After taking photographs for more than 2 hours, I thought I had exhausted all the possibilities, and was heading back down the trail. I turned around in time to see this, and fire off a couple shots. The saturation didn’t have the pop that was present in my early morning pics, but that didn’t matter. I knew right away this was meant to be in b&w.
This week’s Daily Post Challenge of Narrow made me immediately think of slot canyons. The most famous (and photographed) one is Antelope Canyon, and you can find thousands of shots from inside the canyon, but have you ever wondered what it looked like from outside? This is lower Antelope Canyon (above), and that narrow crack in the earth is about 50 to 60 feet deeper than what you can see at this spot. Water has worn it smooth all the way, so think of this as the bathtub drain if there’s a thunderstorm nearby.
Not far from Antelope Canyon, even deeper and equally claustrophobic is Paria Canyon, with the branch known as Buckskin Gulch. Once you’ve entered, it remains this narrow for miles, with few escape routes. The drainage continues upcanyon for many miles, and there are logs jammed in a couple spots high above your head to remind you that this is a sunny day hike. If it has flooded recently, you will find this impassible due to quicksand.
A much tighter series of canyons exist in Cathedral Gorge State Park in eastern Nevada. No chance of being caught in a flood here, because these don’t travel very far. In some spots you will have to walk sideways to get through. Without some object providing a sense of scale, this may be difficult to obtain perspective, but I can’t walk through this canyon with my feet side by side.
One place that I find quite unique is this series of canyons at the base of Mount Charleston, Nevada. The canyons themselves are not that narrow or deep, but there is this narrow passage from one canyon to the next one.
Since I primarily take photographs of nature, my detail shots are mostly in the form of plant life. Even if I lived somewhere besides the desert, I think I would still be fascinated with cacti. Sometimes they’re shaped bizarrely, sometimes perfectly symmetrical. And when you move in close (but not too close) they provide elaborate details. Most would be vulnerable to damage from insects, birds, and animals if it weren’t for the defense mechanisms – all those thorns.
While many of you live in climates where flowers thrive, we are provided with only a limited showing of those. Even in the driest of years, when the rest of the desert is stingy with blossoms, the cactus bloom.
Trees are the other guaranteed bloomers around here, such as this redbud from nearby Red Rock Canyon.
In bloom or not, trees can be fascinating subjects, such as this one from Hawaii with a very entangled root system, or this detail of a bristlecone pine tree.
In the southwest, details of canyon walls can make for good photos, such as this one of cross-bedded sandstone in Valley of Fire State Park, or this etched detail in Fletcher Canyon.
When I think of detailed shots, the first thing that comes to mind are close-up or macro images. But sometimes, there are landscapes that have so much going on, that it’s hard to not just look for all the details. This one is from Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada.
Textures in eroded clay and sand in Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Well, the obvious answer is Earth, but several locations I’ve flown across bear resemblances to sci-fi movie settings. These are all desert locations, so it probably helps that I fly in and out of Las Vegas. This also means we’re still at an altitude low enough to see great detail.
Textures of the Mojave DesertHills in the desert of southern ArizonaMountains near Lake Mead at sunsetDesert ridges by stormlight outside of Las VegasWash patterns, northwestern New MexicoCraters Near FlagstaffDesert and dunes near Death Valley
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.
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.
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.
Powerball fever has been sweeping the nation with its unprecedented $1.6 Billion jackpot. Here in Nevada, people have to drive to California or Arizona to purchase tickets. The gaming lobby will probably see to it that remains that way.
The closest place for Nevadans to buy tickets is the California state line on Interstate 15, at a gas station with ticket sales. Similarly, Arizona has a store in the middle of nowhere about twenty miles after crossing Hoover Dam. News footage for the last couple drawings has shown tremendous lines for the people in the Cali location. I doubt Arizona has been much different.
I succumbed to the madness and headed down to Arizona yesterday. Not to the forementioned location, but down to Bullhead City. With those ridiculous odds against me purchasing a winning ticket, I wanted to make sure I had something to photograph along the way. Not too long ago, the road through Bullhead City used to be the way between Nevada and Arizona. The post 9/11 security checkpoints for those crossing Hoover Dam made for backups several miles long most of the day. Sitting in a parked or idling car for 2 or more hours was not uncommon. The only time you could guarantee a timely crossing was between 1am and 7am.
One time I guessed wrong, and headed towards the dam on my return trip. It was late at night, on a weekday, with light traffic. About 3 or 4 miles before the dam, all traffic came to a stop. We were there almost 20-30 minutes without moving an inch. A passenger in the car in front of me decided he had to use the restroom, so he got out of the car and crossed over the guardrail, and away from view. About the same time, we started moving. Not just a little bit. Strangely, traffic got up to about 25 mph and didn’t come to a stop for about a mile-and-a-half. The driver of the car in front of me, afraid to lose his place in line, never pulled over to wait for his passenger. I’ll bet that was the last time those two ever rode together!
Enough of the good old days, back to yesterday.
I went to Bullhead because I wanted options. If I got numbers that looked like they had zero chance of ever coming up together, I didn’t want to have to go back in a line. And forget lines. With multiple locations selling tickets, lines weren’t an issue. I was out of there quickly, and headed back to what I really wanted to do.
As one drives back into Nevada and heads up the hill, the Newberry Mountains are one of the first things that come into view. I had driven past these mountains so many times before with the light being wrong. I kept telling myself I would have to come back and camp, because it needed to be a sunrise or sunset shoot. The Hoover Dam bypass opened in 2010, and I forgot about coming back here.
This was my first option for photographing on my return trip, and with soft, mostly overcast light, it was the one I took. There are huge outcrops of whitish granite along this edge of the Newberrys. The road that leads close to the mountains is marked with a sign pointing to Christmas Tree Pass. This is the desert, and that means Junipers, not Douglas Firs. Soon after the junction with 95 north to Vegas, you will see a similar sign where the road comes out. The boulders are in close proximity here, and this is the spot I chose to explore. One of the first things I came across was a rock that looked like it had a petroglyph in the shape of a Christmas tree. Whether man-made or naturally occurring, it made me ponder the origin of the name of the nearby pass. Were there more of these symbols nearby? Not far from there, I came across another symbol which looked more like a discoloration than something pecked into the rock. I took a photo anyway.
Petroglyph or natural flaking – a tree shaped object on a boulder in the Newberry Mountains. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Strange markings on a boulder in the Newberry Mountains. Photo by Steve Bruno.
As I covered more ground, I was soon amongst some larger boulders. One of them, a rounded balanced rock, caught my attention. Now that’s nature’s Powerball! I managed to take photos from a couple angles, then sat down and enjoyed the sandwich I had purchased down in Bullhead. From here I could see the town, yet everything was so quiet and peaceful. Even the sounds of the highway were completely absorbed into the lower hills. As I finished my sandwich, I could tell the light was changing into the golden hour. I walked some more, and came across another spectacular granite boulder. This one was perched on a ridge, and erosion was taking the hill underneath, leaving small openings below the boulder. In almost no time the sun was breaking through the bottom of the cloud layer and igniting the mountains in Arizona. I didn’t want to be caught out here in the dark, so I packed quickly and headed down to my car. I approached the ridge above my car just as the sun was throwing its last light into the cloud layer. Okay, just one more!
Large boulders with erosion taking place beneath, in the Newberry Mountains, southern Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Boulders at sunset, with the sun still hitting the mountains in Arizona. From the Newberry Mountains, southern Nevada. Photo by Steve Bruno.
Sunset light lingers over the Newberry Mountains. Photo by Steve Bruno.
I don’t know about my lottery tickets, but I felt like I had a winning afternoon. I finally had a reason to wander into the Newberry Mountains.
Steve Bruno Photo 
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