Petrified log and north Bisti vista. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 34mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 13 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The last shots that I acquired on the hillside, where I spent most of the early morning on day 3 in the northern portion of the Bisti Wilderness, were of the long slender petrified log that I had discovered in scouting this area a couple of days prior.
I had found a way to safely get down a hillside and shoot near the log. The first image above is taken from a place on the hillside above the log.
Petrified log sections in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I shot four images from the perspective above, focusing at different points in the scene, then stacked those images using Helicon software. Focusing stacking results in a sharp image from front to back in the image.
The image below is created in the same manner, using 6 images, each with a different focus point.
Petrified log in north Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Satisfied that I had done as much as reasonable shooting on the hillside, I hiked back down into the canyon and made a few images of interesting features in the canyon.
The Clam Hoodoo in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 6 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I acquired a number of images with various focus points to create these final two images of the “Clam” hoodoo.
The Clam Hoodoo in North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 7 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I used the Helicon retouching tool for the last image to fix some artifacts that were a result of the clouds moving as the multiple images were acquired. The Helicon retouching tool allows one to choose one of the multiple images and paint in portions of that image to replace the unnatural artifacts.
If the cloud motion just results in an appearance of a long shutter speed image, showing motion in the clouds, I think that is fine and does not require retouching. Obviously, this is a matter of personal preference.
The hike back to the parking area was pleasant, with moderate temperature. I had seen rain in the distance while shooting and while returning to the parking lot. The sky appeared to be clearing in the west, but the wind speed was increasing. It can get very windy here, but I am hoping it will not be so bad as to prevent a sunset shoot today.
I was up at 4AM and noted that it was very cloudy, overcast and a little breezy. I thought about not going out due to the heavily overcast sky, thinking there may not be good sunrise light, but I went, anyway.
My destination was the hilltop at the end of a canyon that I had scouted on the first day of my arrival. There was good color in the eastern sky before sunrise, but I was a little too late in getting to my destination in time to get shots of the best color. As I was hiking to my destination, I missed a turn into the side canyon that I had to take to get there. Fortunately, I realized my mistake quickly and only lost a few minutes as I backtracked. Still, those few minutes cost me a few possibly good shots, as the color was mostly gone by the time I got set up to shoot.
North Bisti Toadstool Hoodoo and overcast sky just after sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 2.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The heavy cloud cover eliminated the sunrise golden hour, too. I had to make do with the light that I had to work with and the clouds did add some interest to the sky, at least; but the photos are a little dull without that golden hour light and the dispersed, uniform light with no shadows made the images a bit flat.
Overcast sky over north Bisti features. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
At least, I got just a little color in the overcast sky in a few of my shots.
North Bisti toadstools in monochrome. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I considered converting most of my images to monochrome, but without the shadows, these lack the depth that help make such images more appealing.
Various north Bisti hillside toadstools. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
There were many interesting toadstool type hoodoos scattered all around the hillsides and wide vista.
Overcast sky over north Bisti features. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The features in the foreground of the shot above are actually fairly large, but they are on a hillside across a ravine so I could not safely get closer.
I spotted this large petrified log in a ravine downhill to the west. The slope was quite steep here and I would not risk trying to get closer to this one. I have a number of shots of it, trying to show how impressively large it appears and the environment around it; but I think none of the shots do it justice.
Large petrified log sections and north Bisti vista. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I continued to work the area, shooting anything that I though might be interesting.
Large and small north Bisti toadstools. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 44mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Looking back up the hill from above the large petrified log is this large hillside with many toadstool hoodoos on the top and a few scattered below:
North Bisti toadstools and hillside. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 42mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 3 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
These are the features that are most prominent, when first climbing up the hillside from the canyon access:
A large north Bisti toadstool and hillside. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
A close up of that rather large toadstool feature:
A large north Bisti Toadstool. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 4 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
And another view of the large toadstool with the vista stretching out behind it:
A large north Bisti Toadstool. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 5 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Down the hillside behind the large toadstool, I got down low behind one emerging toadstool to get this view of the sky and the vast desert vista:
A north Bisti Hoodoo’s view. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 8 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I was not satisfied with the sharpness in the first image in this post, so I made a series of images to focus stack:
North Bisti Toadstool Hoodoos. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64. Helicon focus stack of 7 images. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
{Note that a number of the previous images are created by focus stacking a number of images. I finally have had enough of the problems with Photoshop focus stacking, so after some research, I’m trying Helicon software, which is designed specifically for this task. So far, I’m really impressed with it. Helicon produces more accurate results, much faster than Photoshop and has an easy to use retouching tool, that can fix things like artifacts produced by moving subjects (for example, the clouds in these images)}.
I do not recall seeing Bisti photographs such as those in this post. I know others have hiked around this area, since I could see evidence of footprints which had been essentially removed by recent rains; but such areas of Bisti are less popular with the typical visitors and do not have the striking rock shapes as the more popular areas. Yet these photographs, when compared to those from the more popular areas, illustrate the geological variety and vastness of this striking desert wilderness.
This post is getting too long, so I will continue it in a follow up.
Thanks for following, remember that your critiques and comments are always welcome and that clicking on most of the photos will take you to the photograph on Flickr,
After the best early morning golden light was gone, I continued to move around the nearby area looking for interesting compositions in the early morning light and evaluating the best time for shooting whatever I found nearby.
A north Bisti petrified tree stump casting an early morning long shadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 38mm, f/16, 1/15s, ISO 64.
There are a number of petrified tree stumps in this area, so I made
North Bisti Petrified Tree Stumps casting long shadows in early morning light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 30mm, f/16, 1/30s, ISO 64.
a few images of those.
North Bisti Petrified Tree Stumps in early morning light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, f/16, 1/20s, ISO 64.
There are many rocks in various shapes scattered around the desert here. Some are short hoodoo or toadstool like features.
North Bisti rocks casting long shadows on the desert floor in early morning light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64.
I converted a number of my shots from this shoot to monochrome, since I think this time of the morning with long shadows is really good for monochrome.
The rock in the top right of this photo maybe should have an xxx rating:
An apparently virile male Bisti rock. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64.An early morning scene in north Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 34mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 64.
I like the diagonal line of rocks and their shadows set against the wide open desert in the above photo.
Bisti Toadstool Rocks and Shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64.
These short toadstool like rock features cast interestingly shaped shadows and I like the little rock with a sliver of light highlighting it in the shadow in the foreground in the above image.
A north Bisti wilderness scene in early morning. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64.
A stark image of the Bisti desert environment is presented in the above image.
North Bisti Rocks in early morning. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 27mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 64.
As the sediment in the desert here erodes, linear features are often revealed, hinting at the original geological deposition. Fortunately, all of the rock does not weather at the same rate. Otherwise, there might only be a flat desert with no interesting features.
Scouting photos from this day will be posted soon.
As a reminder, most of my blog photos are posted to my Flickr page and one can click on any photo that your cursor indicates has an embedded link to view the photo on Flickr, where it will look better than in the blog.
As I was leaving the north Bisti parking area, taking the short route just over and along the north fence line, and passing a young couple with two very young kids, the young man approached me, saying that I looked like I might know the area and asking if they could follow me. Of course, I agreed, being happy to help anyone in that situation. I had to walk much slower than I normally would, since the kids could not keep up, otherwise. The young man soon put the smaller, pre-school child in a carrier on his back. That young man was not very big, yet he must have been strong and in good physical shape, to carry even a small child like that. As we walked along, I learned that the young man and his wife were from South Korea, he was working on an MBA at Illinois University and they would return to South Korea, when he finished his degree.
I was heading out much earlier than required, had plenty of time to get to my destination, the “Conversing Hoodoos”, well before sunset, so I guided them on a longer route than necessary, taking them past other interesting features on the way. The young man stopped to take snapshots along the way and I encouraged him to take as much time as he needed, since I had no need to hurry.
Conversing Hoodoos and background at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/15s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
We arrived at the conversing hoodoos with plenty of time to spare prior to sunset. The young couple insisted on taking a family photo with me and thanked me profusely for guiding them into Bisti. After explaining and pointing out the more direct and easy route back to the parking area, I left them alone, wandering down a canyon to get a few shots before it was time to get back to my primary subjects.
Near sunset light on hoodoos along a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 21mm, 1/50s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I find that late day light, within an hour of sunset, is a good time to get shots that look good, when converted to monochrome. The late day light creates shadows and depth within the landscape image. While such photos can also look good in the original color version, I think the monochrome is more appealing.
A bit later from a distance, I saw the young man high up on a hill among some of the large hoodoos, shouting and waving. He seemed to be having a good time. He had told me they were going to the south area the following day and asked, if I would be there, as he was thinking that I could guide them around there, as well. Even though, I would have enjoyed that, I had no plans to go to the south area on this trip. They did have some information about the south area and I told them that that area was usually busy on weekends and that they could probably find others to at least point them in the right direction to see the things that they were interested in.
Near sunset light illuminates rock forms on a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 16mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Near sunset light illuminates a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/50s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I was using my wide angle 14-24mm lens during this outing and I was not really pleased with most of my compositions with that lens at the Conversing Hoodoos. I decided that I needed to return on another day of my visit with my 24-70mm lens so that I could more easily get the compositions that I wanted.
Conversing Hoodoos at Sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A jack rabbit shaped hoodoo in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/40s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The “Jack Rabbit” (my name) hoodoo on top of this hillside, is difficult to photograph with a wide angle lens, since it is not easily accessible and shooting from below just does not get one close enough and one needs to get a close up view to see the “Jack Rabbit” shape. This feature is seen in a canyon near the “Conversing Hoodoos”.
Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti canyon wall features in near sunset light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/60s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The features in the image above are along a canyon wall near the “Conversing Hoodoos”. The little hoodoo in the middle looks like a bird in a nest, stretching its head out to survey the area.
The sky was mostly very clear with only a few distant clouds, which were not visible in most of my compositions. I am hoping that there will be a more interesting sky the next time I shoot here.
[Followers may have noted that there is no day 6 sunset post. This is because it became very windy and dusty prior to time to go out for sunset photos that evening. So we elected to skip the planned shoot for that evening].
For sunrise photos on day 7 in Bisti, my son and I returned to the area just outside the Bisti north area.
An interesting rock form silhouette at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 4.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I captured this early morning silhouette of a bird like hoodoo here.
The smaller rock feature in the upper left looks like a satellite dish. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 31mm, f/11, 25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I shot this particular rock formation mainly due to the rock shape at the upper left that has a satellite dish look.
A row of rock forms with sunrise light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The sunrise light was very good today, but the sky was boring.
Rock forms in the BLM area near North Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Silver Efex Pro 2.
A monochrome conversion of the previously posted image. Even though the sunrise light was good, I’m inclined to like the monochrome version better, maybe due to lack of interest in the background sky.
A hoodoo and other rock forms in the near North Bisti Area. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 56mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The hoodoo cap on the left has features that make it look almost alive and it looks like it is displeased with the jumble of rocks on the right.
The smug rock from another view point. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The smug looking rock, that readers will have seen in an earlier post, seems to be staring at the contrails in the sky.
Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I think this would be a really interesting photo, if only the sky was not so boring. The light falls upon several features as if purposely spotlighted.
Black and White with spotlight effect. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Silver Efex Pro 2.
The black and white version looks even more dramatic; although, the image here looks muted. Click on the photo to view it on Flickr, where it will look much better.
The evening of the fifth day in Bisti, my son and I decided to shoot sunset photos in an area, which we think is on BLM land. At least we know it is outside the Bisti Wilderness proper area. It is an area that we accessed via a short spur road off of the road to the unofficial parking area for Bisti North parking.
It was a cloudy day without great sunset light, so I converted the shots presented in this post to monochrome.
A cloud covered scene near Bisti North. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 60mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
The photo above is my favorite from this shoot. There are dramatic clouds and hints of rain falling from the clouds, interesting rocks in the foreground and middle ground.
A cloudy sky at sunset and Bisti rock forms. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
We had spotted this little natural bridge or window on an earlier scout of this area.
Cloudy sky near sunset and Bisti Rock Forms. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 28mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
And another little window shot that I like better than the previous one, possibly because of the more dramatic clouds and the more interesting foreground.
Cloudy Sky over Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 34mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
The shot above is what I consider a minimalistic shot. The objects in the photo are limited, but there are dramatic clouds, interesting geologic features and multiple leading lines in the barren foreground, which hints at the vast openness of this area.
Cloudy Sunset Sky and Bisti Rock Forms. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 28mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
The shot above is another minimalistic shot of the same basic features as in the previous shot, but with a different point of view. In this case I have emphasized the broad area around the narrow drainage patterns that are acting as leading lines into the photo with the clouds adding drama to the scene.
Cloudy sky over rock forms in the BLM area to the southwest of the unofficial North Bisti parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I like the multiple tiers in the rock formations in this photo with the dramatic cloud backdrop.
Bearded Lizard like feature in the BLM area to the southwest of the unofficial North Bisti parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 0.6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This rock feature looks like a bearded lizard to me, hence the title of the photo. I’ve added a lens vignette, shifting it to the left to focus on the “head” of the lizard or whatever imaginary creature one might think this looks like.
Black and white turtle or other creature like hoodoo in the BLM area to the southwest of the unofficial North Bisti parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 35mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This hoodoo reminds me of a large turtle, but one might imagine it as some other exotic or alien creature.
Cloudy sunset over the BLM area to the southwest of the unofficial North Bisti parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 26mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This photo does not have the greatest depth of field, but I still like it. I used the flat rock wings or hoodoos running diagonally from bottom left towards the upper right to lead the viewers eye into the photo towards the feature on the horizon in the upper right. I wish I could find these dramatic clouds on nice sunny sunset or sunrise shoots, while still allowing for great light on the photo subjects.
This wraps up the highlights of day 5 sunset shooting in the great vastness of one of New Mexico’s wonderful desert areas.
Sand dunes provide great opportunities for abstract photography. I hope that the few such photographs shared in this post will illustrate such possibilities.
This image is created via focus stacking 4 images in Adobe Photoshop, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64.
Wind creates large expanses of ripples and repeating patterns in sand dunes, such as those shown above. These can be rendered effectively in color, if the light is favorable. I like monochrome for such photos, since one only needs the light to provide shadows and highlights, meaning one can shoot at times other than just the “golden” hours.
By excluding moving objects, one can use focus stacking quite effectively in such images, getting sharp images over a large depth range.
Sandhills Abstract. Nikon d850, Nikon 24-70mm at 55mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I really like this photo with the diagonal ripples superimposed on the orthogonal wave in the dune. Obviously, the shadows in the troughs, alternating with the highlights on the crests of the ripples, produces these interesting features.
A composite of three images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 200.
This is another of my favorite abstracts from the sandhills. In this case, I like the highlight in the depression near the top right of the image and the way the ripples flow into and around the depression.
A composite of three images, focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 40mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 200.
Another image with interesting, bifurcating, ripple patterns with faint wisps of plant matter (look closely to see these) across the ripples.
This is a composite of 6 images focus stacked in Adobe Photoshop with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 48mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 200.
The animal track across these subdued ripples adds interest to the pattern. The original color version also shows variations in the color of the sand, producing streaks of color crossing the ripples.
Natural artwork in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/15s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I’m sure some of you have seen images of circles swept into sand by plant fronds or limbs. Here is a variation on that with the lower frond producing long streaks across the sand ripples and the upper frond pecking out an intricate, dimpled pattern along the direction of the sand ripples. To me such natural art work is fascinating. These are also short lived, since the next wind will probably erase these or maybe produce a variation. So, if you see an interesting one, photograph it before it is gone!
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is not really about hiking so much as just exploring an area along Geology Road with illustrations via iPhone photos.
One can drive much of Geology Road in an ordinary passenger vehicle; but there are portions where a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle is recommended.
We drove much of the easier part of the road, including some of the rougher portions, stopping to explore around one boulder area.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were some clouds to add interest to the photos and I am again contrasting color processing and monochrome processing.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son standing on one of the rocks in the above photo gives one a sense of scale here.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One can always find interesting features within the boulder fields. In the preceding photos, note the window near the center of the photos.
The rock at the center of this image looks like a modern sculpture in the shape of a bear. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Climbing around on the boulders, my son spotted what he referred to as a “bear” rock, nestled down within an opening between other large boulders. It looks like a modern art sculpture of a bear cub to me; but maybe others see something else.
The rock nestled within these big boulders looks like a bear sculpture. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Color Efex Pro 4.
A boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Flowering bush amid the boulders, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Plants seemingly find a place to grow in the most unlikely places.
A panorama within a boulder field along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This panoramic image give one a sense of the openness of the area, even though there are large boulder piles and mountain peaks apparent in this vast desert area.
Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Boulder Field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Fittingly, there are a few Joshua Trees scattered around within the boulder field.
A scene along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Other desert type scrubby vegetation also populates the area.
A view from within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
A remnant of an old tree found within the boulder field.
A gnarly tree trunk within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Even a few California Barrel Cacti are present. A couple can be seen in the background of the gnarly tree trunk.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A colorful California Barrel Cactus within a boulder field, Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My son had found an outcrop of quartz in the desert opposite this boulder field on an earlier visit and he recalled how to hike to it again on this visit to the park. It is quite an impressive amount of quartz.
A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4A quartz rock outcrop in the desert along Geology Road, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
This post is short on words and maybe a bit long in photos; but at least that makes for a fast scan of the blog.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is about the Lost Horse Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and/or facilities remain at some of the mine sites. Hiking trails to the abandoned mines often follow the original roads made to access the mines.
Some of the equipment remaining at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Lost Horse Mine Trail is an easy trail about a 4 mile round trip and only 480 feet elevation gain from the parking lot to the mine site. One can do a longer version, resulting in about a 6 mile hike, climbing a steeper, narrower loop from the mine back to the parking area. A long interval of the trail is visible in the photo above.
A view of a portion of Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The trail is through a desert area with wide views of the local area with typical desert vegetation.
A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A blooming Yucca along Lost Horse Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Bees were swarming around the Yucca blooms. Looking closely (maybe zoom in on the above photo) and at least one bee is visible on the left hand side of the bloom about half way down the photo. Another photo had more obvious bees in it, but I did not like that photo.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
As in the first part about hiking in Joshua Tree NP, I’m including a couple of duplicate photos, except for the processing (color and monochrome). I like the monochrome treatment best here; but I would like to hear reader preferences.
The remains of a winch at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The old mill is largely intact, but it is fenced off, so one cannot get close enough to get detailed photos of the milling machinery.
Remains of a mill at Lost Horse Mine, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A view from Lost Horse Mine Trail near the mine area. iPhone photo edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
If one looks very closely, a hiker is visible on the trail in the above photo. The hiker is on the right at the jog in the trail, where it appears to go from the wider close up to the narrow looking distant part.
As a reminder, all the photos in this post are via an iPhone. We elected not to carry our heavy DSLR gear along, since the lighting was not optimal at the time of day that we hiked this trail.
In the spring of 2018, my oldest son and I visited Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. We photographed in the park in the early morning, late afternoon and night. During the middle hours of the day we scouted for places to photograph and/or we hiked several of the easy to moderate trails within the park. This post is about the Contact Mine Trail with illustrations via iPhone photos.
The Contact Mine Trail is an easy one, with a gentle slope, gaining only 700 feet in just under two miles. As we hiked along the trail we began to notice a barrel type cactus with red spines.
A colorful California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Later research revealed that this cactus is referred to by its obvious common name “California Barrel Cactus”. As we hiked along, it became obvious that this area had many of these attractive red cactus, some with yellow blooms. My iPhone shots of blooms near the bottom of one such cactus did not turn out well, so none are posted here. I have seen other images with blooms on the top, but I do not recall seeing any with blooms on the top and most did not have blooms.
A close up of the spines on a California Barrel Cactus along the Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
In the early history of this area there were numerous mining operations, which have since been abandoned. Remnants of equipment and or housing remain at some of the mine sites.
The Contact Mine Site has remains of old mining equipment, other rusty evidence of human activity and mine shafts that have been covered with steel cages to prevent people from entering.
The remains of an engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Neither of us carried our heavy camera gear on this hike and I shot a number of iPhone photos just to record the scenes and the experience. I’ve edited the iPhone (jpg) images with some minor adjustments in Adobe LR, followed by edits in Nik software.
Rusty engine at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m including duplicates of some images to show the variations between color edits and monochrome edits.
Remains of machinery at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty old mining equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Edits can bring out texture, contrasts and colors. I tend to like the monochrome versions better than the color versions. The monochrome versions depend mostly upon the composition, texture, contrast and shadows. While it is possible to manipulate the monochrome images in many ways to achieve artistic effects, these type edits just seem more appropriate to me, than the color software edits.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty engine components at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Color editing software can allow one to emulate the effects of the “Golden Light Hours” in photos taken outside these magical times of the day; but the emulation is never quite the same as the real light effects, getting into the more artistic edits of the images, about which there can be much philosophical discussion.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I’m not getting into the debate over photo editing, since that is a subjective matter. I used to be of the opinion that one could only get good images during the Golden Light Hours of sunrise or sunset and, while I prefer to photograph during those magic light hours, sometimes it is not possible to do so. Rather than pass up photographic opportunities in places, where I know I will never be during the golden light hours, I’ve reconciled to working with whatever light I have at the time, then editing to get an image that I find pleasing from an artistic point of view.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I do still feel that the color editing is more unreal than the monochrome edits; but maybe that is just because monochrome images have been in existence in photography for many more years and we study the works of the early pioneers in photography, whose work was entirely in monochrome.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty mine equipment at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Anyway, the early photographers manipulated the monochrome images in the dark room, just as modern digital photographers manipulate the images via computer software.
Mine equipment remains, Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Rusty gear box at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I would like to hear readers’ opinions on this matter as well as critiques of any of my images (composition and/or edits).
Beaver Tail Prickly Pear in bloom, Contact Mine Trail, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Remains of a winch at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Equipment remains at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Contact Mine winch remains, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Old mine cart rails at the Contact Mine Site, Joshua Tree NP, California. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A final note: I reverted to an older version of the WordPress editor for this post, since I could find no way to insert links into photos with the “improved” editor. Verifying that the links were correct, even with the classic editor, proved more awkward than previously. Please let me know if links do not work or are not correct.
