Travel – Page 8 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 23 – Another Sunset Shoot

It seems suitable, at this time of the day, that the clouds in the sky and the geology in Valley of Fire, Nevada came together to create an hourglass shape, if one has the imagination to see it.

Another late day storm was brewing over the desert, which resulted in dramatic sky for background.

I composed this image to have the rocks along the diagonal pointing towards the distant storm.

Then I thought maybe I had too much in this image, so I moved in close to the end portion of the foreground rock, keeping a portion of the little bush at the edge of the rock.

This emphasized the foreground rock, but reduced the background and the stormy, cloudy sky, which I think is not an improvement. The wider angle view is better, I think.

I like the way the rock texture looks, even on its own, but with the late day light and a stormy sky background it seems to really pop.

In this image I like the foreground shadows that contrast with the late day light on the middle ground and the background sky and the rugged geology.

Skyway – Walk this way to reach the clouds.

Symmetric Reflection – Earth and Sky Symmetry

Maybe the correct word is “symmetrical”, but the image is not exactly symmetrical, so I will stick with the “Symmetric” label.

I used the many linear features in the rock as leading lines in this photo, which is a cropped version of the original. The original included much more of the foreground, as I like those linear features, but upon reviewing, I thought maybe I over did it with the foreground.

To be continued with much more of that late day desert storm,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 22 – Sunset Shoot

This is a continuation of a multiple part blog of a sunset shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

The rock features in Valley of Fire take on different looks as one moves around, viewing these from various positions.

To Reach the Gold, One Must Overcome the Obstacles

The Funnel is my name for this location. The rock texture just seems to “funnel” one into the scene.

Light tops off the distant rocks like a sweet, golden frosting on a multilayered cake, with a dollop of whipped cream on the edge.

Everything in this image is in the previous one, but less. I moved in to reduce the scope of the image, then cropped in more in post processing to make the sky more prominent and emphasize the large rock feature at the bottom right, which was in the bottom left of the previous image. I think this makes the scene more dramatic, but that is in the eye of the beholder.

Evening sky flows and glows over Valley of Fire, Nevada, highlighting some features and casting others into deepening shadows.

This wraps up this sunset shoot, but there will be another.

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 19 – Sunset Shoot

This is a continuation of a multiple part sunset shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

The rock features here remind me of ocean waves and ripples on a shoreline.

A desert shrub stands as if on a stage in a spotlight as the late day desert light show begins.

In a harsh, rocky, dry desert environment life finds a way to survive.

Desert vegetation staying close to the rocks. Is it because that is where the sand is deepest, where more water is available from run off from the rocks or is there more protection from the elements there? I suspect all of those are factors in desert life survival.

These vertical rock protrusions remind me of fish fins.

This is a good place to end this post, but more of this sunset shoot to follow.

Until next time,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 18 – Sunset Shoot

This sunset photo shoot will be presented in multiple posts.

These rocks seem to be looking towards the late day sun.

The rock texture here looks like a river or spring flowing from beneath that little arch.

Rock seems to be flowing like a spring from beneath the rock above it. There is even an eddy current or whirlpool near the left side of the rock spring.

Rock makes sand, sand makes rock, cycle repeats.

Interesting rock formations in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. I can imagine those cross cutting, linear features as veins feeding into a strange creature’s brain.

Life is gone from this desert bush, but it still casts a shadow upon the rock beside which it once thrived.

Shadows lengthen as the peace of evening descends over Valley of Fire, Nevada.

A quiet, peaceful evening is fast approaching in Valley of Fire, Nevada.

Rock texture mimics a waterfall.

The rock fragments accumulated in the “whirlpool” like area of this rock feature look like debris swirling around at the base of a waterfall.

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 17 – Return from the Fire Wave

On our hike back to the parking lot, we took an obvious route towards a large feature that we had hiked past on our way in. This route went alongside the rock outcrop from which the Fire Wave is formed.

That large rock feature towards which this outcrop points, is our destination for joining up with the official trail back to the parking lot.

Early morning shadow and light seem to be divided by the meeting of two different rock formations. The meeting of these two different rock deposits forms a low area, where sand accumulates and desert vegetation takes root.

I noted many small pebbles accumulated in the ridges of this rock outcrop. Initially, I thought maybe tourist were tossing these into the grooves, but now I think it is a natural accumulation. Maybe strong winds blow the pebbles along the rock face until the pebbles drop into a place that is somewhat protected from the wind.

That’s all for this hike and early morning shoot,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 16 – Fire Wave

One of the better known and most popular geological features in Valley of Fire is The Fire Wave. The beginning of the hike to this feature is well marked and apparent, but the trail soon becomes not so apparent. We found a couple of others on the trail in the early morning of our visit , at least one of whom had been there previously, and he was confused about the trail, too.

We headed in opposite directions, wandered around for awhile, found a marker telling us we missed the trail, doubled back and eventually found our way to the Fire Wave.

The two we had separated from earlier had also found their way and another photographer had arrived before any of us. Those three were occupying the best vantage point for shooting the Fire Wave in the AM, so I shot from other directions, until those arriving first vacated their spots.

The shadow of one photographer and his tripod can be seen in the lower center of this first image.

While waiting for the other photographers to finish their shooting, I wandered around to the east side of the feature to see what it looked like from there, making a couple of images.

After the other photographers were satisfied with their shots, I moved into a better spot for shooting this feature. The Fire Wave is best shot at sunset, rather than sunrise, but then one has to deal with a crowd of folks, since most ordinary visitors do not get out at sunrise.

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 13 – Sunset Shoot

Photos from another sunset shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. The day after the storm at sunset, we returned to the same area for another photo shoot. Some of the photos in this post are similar to the evening prior, but with different lighting and sky

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 11

After a morning shoot, my son and I decided to take a short hike in another part of the park, before. the crowds of tourists began to get out and about.

It is not surprising that this area is a popular one in which to film portions of western movies. The image above is of the remains of one of those movie sets.

A portion of our early morning hike went through a slot type canyon. The many footprints in the sand indicates the number of people that have recently hiked this way.

That’s all for now.

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 7 – Arches – Inside and Out

More photos from scouting and exploring Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, March of 2023.

The number of arches in this area is almost unbelievable. One could spend much time here just photographing arches from inside, outside and through. I’m reminded of the Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now” about clouds and how it could be adapted to describe having seen arches from many sides and still not having seen all aspects of arches.

More next,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park and Nearby, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 6 – Monochrome Desert

This is a continuation of hiking and exploration in Valley of Fire State Park and nearby areas, Nevada. All of the photos in this post were shot with an iPhone 14 and converted to monochrome.

This “Dark Shelter” is not in Valley of fire. This is along a 4 wheel drive road outside the park.

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Category: Travel

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 23 – Another Sunset Shoot

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 17 – Return from the Fire Wave

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