Devil’s Cornfield, Death Valley National Park
One thing I was not expecting to see in Death Valley was a photogenic weed patch! Just like Devils Golf Course, where only the Devil could play golf, here at Devil’s Cornfield, only the Devil could eat this corn! It’s not corn at all — it’s arrowweed. I made this image in the early evening [...]
Artist Drive, Death Valley National Park
Hazy days made for difficult photography at Death Valley National Park when I first arrived. The air was dense and the clouds and haze obscured most of the grand views. The haze tended to lift around sunset and I got a few good shots at Devils Golf Course and Badwater Basin, but the days were [...]
Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park
So I’m thinking about getting one of those little mirrorless cameras with the interchangeable lenses like a Sony NEX7 or a Fuji X20. One of those would be perfect for a day like the day I made the photos in this post. I was already feeling sluggish and had a headache coming on and it [...]
Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park
I visited Death Valley National Park in mid-March and the temperatures exceeded 90 degrees! At 282 feet below sea level, it has the lowest elevation in North America and is the hottest and driest US National Park. I can’t imagine what it would be like to visit this place in summer when the temperatures reach [...]
This Landscape is a Melting Strawberry Sundae
Sometimes it’s hard to find just the right words to describe a landscape so when a friend of mine described a place as a “melting strawberry sundae” I knew I had to see it for myself. It was in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Ray and I planned on doing a two [...]
Little Finland, Nevada
During my stay in Moapa, Nevada, I was doing some research on the local area when I came across a map to a spot known as “Little Finland.” My friend, Don Davis, whose RV park we were staying at, said he had heard of it but had never been there himself. It was a great [...]
I Broke My Tripod in the Valley of Fire
Ever since I bought my tripod I’ve been in love. ♥ My husband thinks I’m in love with Canon but really it’s a toss up between Canon and Gitzo. Or maybe it’s Really Right Stuff that has my heart. At first I wasn’t sure about spending so much money on it. I think it was [...]
The Valley of Fire, Nevada
A few months ago I received an email from one of my readers, Don Davis. He said he lives in Nevada near a beautiful spot called the Valley of Fire and also happens to own a small RV park. He offered my husband and I a free RV spot in exchange for some photography advice [...]
The Fountains of Bellagio, Las Vegas
One of the must-do things in Las Vegas is watching the Fountains of Bellagio in a show of water, music and light. Because it’s so crowded down there (and I’m sooo not used to crowds anymore) I decided to go with my tripod and only one lens. Whenever I go with one lens I almost [...]
Reflections of Paris
No, I didn’t go to Paris. But I found a cool reflection of the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas! Here’s what the hotel looks like in case you haven’t seen it before. And … here’s the cool reflection! Please click on the images to view larger versions. Next up, the Bellagio …
New York New York, Las Vegas
We usually avoid cities in our travels since my husband and I both prefer the wilderness and less crowded spaces. We are always trying to get away from the people! But on our way between the sand dunes in California and the Valley of Fire in Nevada, we decided to stop in Las Vegas since [...]
Sunset at Imperial Sand Dunes
So far the images I have shared from Imperial Sand Dunes in California have been wildly disparate. On one hand I had the untouched sand dunes sculpted by the wind. On the other the raging dune buggies, ATVs and motorcycles. I decided to make an attempt at combining the two concepts and I got a [...]
Action Shots at Imperial Sand Dunes
Before I visited Imperial Sand Dunes in California I always thought of dunes as being peaceful places where only the footprints of the people before you can be seen. That was the case on one side of the dunes where I made the images you can see here and here. But on the other side [...]
Imperial Sand Dunes in Black and White
At Imperial Sand Dunes in California, I was photographing at the point in the day when the last light is gone but the beautiful twilight colours have not yet arrived. A few minutes after I made the second image in yesterday’s post, I took a few steps to the left so that the peaks of [...]
Five Things I Learned by Photographing in the Afternoon
When I am photographing I usually go out in the afternoon to do some scouting in preparation for the evening twilight shoots that I love. It’s when the last light is on the tips of the mountains and the sky begins to turn pale pink that I am in my zone. I have written before [...]
Cactus Forest in Saguaro National Park
This winter we are trying to visit the National Parks in the southwest that we missed last year so, after our visit to San Diego, we decided to head over to Saguaro National Park in Arizona. The park is divided into two separate sections with the city of Tucson and it’s one million residents in [...]
Balboa Park, San Diego
During my visit to San Diego, I spent one afternoon at the beautiful Balboa Park, which is known for the famous San Diego Zoo, but there are also tons of other things to see in the huge 1200 acre park. Since I only had a few hours I decided not to go in any of [...]
6 Attempts at the San Diego Skyline
In addition to going to the zoo and the safari park while in San Diego, I really wanted to get a good image of the San Diego skyline. I know, I know, it’s been done a million times before, but it’s the most beautiful skyline and I really wanted one of my own. Call me [...]
Clark Dry Lake, Anza Borrego State Park, California
The year is off to a great start! I jumped around a bit in the order I processed my recent images, but the image below is the very first frame I took on January 1, 2013! Please click the image to view a larger version. This is Clark Dry Lake in Anza Borrego State Park [...]
Elephant Valley at the San Diego Safari Park
At the San Diego Safari Park, the elephants live in an area known as Elephant Valley. They have a huge expanse of land to roam around in including shade structures, a pool, and a few mud holes that the young ones like to play in. I noticed a few toys in the yard and the [...]
The Baby Elephant Is Thirsty
Remember how I told you how happy the elephants were at the San Diego Safari Park? And how the crowd actually cheered? Well here’s what happened. Please click on any of the images to view larger versions. The End. I hope you enjoyed this post. I’ll have more images of elephants and other animals from [...]
African Lions at the San Diego Safari Park
After visiting the San Diego Zoo I decided to pay a visit to the Safari Park where I heard the animals are in a more natural environment. The two were very different experiences. I did enjoy the zoo, they have a wider variety of animal species, but I enjoyed the safari park more because the [...]
A Day at the San Diego Zoo
The next installment in “zoo week” on the blog comes from the San Diego Zoo in California. I remember visiting here when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I was absolutely in awe of the place at the time. My strongest memory is of the giant tortoises – tortoises bigger than me! I [...]
Feeding Giraffes at the Living Desert
It’s zoo week here on the blog! You know, I go back and forth on zoos. I really only like the ones where the animals have tons of space to roam around, where they live almost as they would in the wild. I can’t stand to see animals in cages especially when they pace back [...]
