Tuesday, December 27, 2016

A Little Dusting of Snow in Joshua Tree National Park

I noticed on Christmas Eve Night that we got some snow in Joshua Tree National Park, so I convinced Margie to get up at first light and head in to the Park to see if we could frolic in the snow (and get some pics of course). The best area was between Hidden Valley and Cap Rock, so we got out and wandered around amongst the Joshua Trees and then headed over to Hidden Valley Nature Trail for a short walk. We certainly worked up a good hunger for breakfast on Christmas Day!

 Alpenglow on the hills on the way in
 Hidden Valley
 An Outline of Snow
Bending 
 Joshua Trees
 Fluffy
 Star Light
Tall Josh

Sunday, December 18, 2016

A Different Take on Fall at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and Covington Park

Saturday morning I got up at first light and headed over to Covington Park and Big Morongo Canyon Preserve to take some pictures of the Cottonwoods in their Fall colors. Unfortunately, some of the color had been lost due to the bad weather this past week, so instead of doing my usual 'straight' photographs, I experimented with some double exposures. I came up with a little technique that put, what you might call, a little 'spin' on the pictures. Always fun to do something a little different eh?









Monday, December 5, 2016

A New Hike For Spin and Margie

We were driving down the Geo Trail the other day and discovered a new hike from a small pull-out about two miles past the California Riding and Hiking Trail. We're always looking for something new, so we parked the car and headed out to some rock formations to the west. We could see all these piles of rocks in the distance, sort of like 'castles on the plain' and decided to head for them. We passed so many interesting and unusual rock formations along the way, stopping to explore, but the best part was when we got way out to this one area with a canyon running through. It seemed so magical and powerful in some way. I wonder if it was a special spot for original inhabitants. When I was processing my pictures, I had trouble seeing them in color or black and white. I wanted an 'otherworldly' look for them, like being on the moon, with that eery light and heavy atmosphere. Joshua Tree National Park is a very special place.

  Sign Post

 Guardian

 Lizard Eye

 Waiting

 Animal Rocks

 Temple

 Pillars

Land in Space