Mesquite Sand Dunes
Our last stop on our winter snowbird season in Southwest USA was at the Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. After visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah, White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, and Imperial Sand Dunes in California, I knew I was in for a tough trek on earth that [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Metal Sculptures in Borrego Springs
In Monday’s post I mentioned the inspirational story of Richard Avery and the 126 metal sculptures that he commissioned for display around the town of Borrego Springs, California. I didn’t get to all 126 of them, but here are some of my favourites: If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your social networks!
Boondocking in Borrego Springs
We have a new favourite place to go boondocking! Near Palm Springs, California, lies a tiny town called Borrego Springs. Only about 3,500 people live there and it is surrounded by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park where you are free to park your rig and camp anywhere you like for free. Click the images to view [...]
California’s Salton Sea
Located along the San Andreas Fault, the Salton Sea is California’s largest lake, it’s 225 feet below sea level, and is 25% saltier than the ocean. But it’s beginnings were much different than any other body of water in the state. Please click the images to view larger versions. It all started with an engineering [...]
Joshua Tree Silhouette
Finally! This is the image I had in my mind as the one I wanted to come home with after my visit to Joshua Tree National Park in California. I do like some of the other tree images I got as well, but this is the one I really wanted. Please click the image to [...]
Jumbo Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park
Have you ever seen a face in the rocks? This one was pretty hard to miss with the two round rocks balanced on a diamond shaped rock resembling a nose. I made this image at the Jumbo Rocks campground in Joshua Tree National Park just before sunset when the light was shining directly on the [...]
Juniper and Balanced Rock
This is one of the iconic locations in Joshua Tree National Park in California. I have seen many images from this location, but I figure they must all be from a few years ago because none of them contain the shrub in the lower left corner. Most of the images I have seen of this [...]
White Tank, Joshua Tree National Park
Like many places in the american southwest, the rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park can make you feel like you are on another planet. I made this image on the trail from White Tank Campground to Arch Rock. Please click the image to view a larger version.
