Big Bend National Park in Texas is a love it or hate it kind of place. I heard a few people say they hated it. It’s a harsh landscape with jagged rocks big and small, prickly cacti, and thorny bushes. It’s a harsh environment too with hot hot days, cold nights and dry as a bone.
I loved it.
I loved it so much we’re thinking of spending a winter in a little town nearby which I’ll tell you about in a future post.
I made this image of “Balanced Rock” after a relaxing flat hike through the desert which ended in these steep rocks. I wanted to be there for sunset, but should have arrived a little bit earlier to allow for the sun going down behind the mountains. As it was I had only 10 or 15 minutes before the light was gone and twilight seems so short in the desert.
Please click the image to view a larger version.
This is a high dynamic range image made by combining 3 exposures. That way I was able to maintain detail in the rocks, which were in shadow, and have a blue sky instead of white.
After I made the images we had to walk back as fast as possible with flashlights in hand, carefully avoiding the cactuses. At the end of the trail it was pitch black and a little scary. We came out on the road, but the truck wasn’t there. We must have taken a wrong turn on the path, but thankfully the truck was only a few minutes away. I sure wouldn’t want to get lost out there.
Im so happy I’m a subscriber! I’m a very amateur amateur, and I’m getting ready to go on a little photo excursion with members of a camera club, so I’m sure you’re new e-book will come in very handy!! Thanks, Anne!!
Neat shot Anne, and the HDR looks really natural. Re. Love-it-or-hate-it, I remember a river passenger once telling me towards the end of a trip in Lodore Canyon, an incredibly beautiful place, “All this red rocks, this is exactly what I imagine Hell looks like.” To each their own….
Sounds like you had a little adventure on the way out, Anne. Very natural looking HDR. Awesome rock – how does it stay exactly there, I wonder.