Rock Forms – Page 5 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

This is a continuation of my last sunset shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada in March 2023.

For continuity, I’m including an image from the previous post.

As the golden sunset hour advanced, I made a number of images from a location with sufficient elevation that allowed an expansive view across the desert and the extensive rock formations. Shooting from the shadow of a massive rock outcrop behind me, I used the natural lines and layers in the foreground rock as leading lines and to contrast the change in the rock color from shadow into the brightly lit rocks of the setting sun.

Maybe my choice of title for the image above is not a good one. Perhaps, it should be “Snapping Turtle”. I’m one of those people that seems to be prone to pareidolia. That is I see life forms in some shapes. In the image above I see the head of a snapping turtle in the rock at upper center. I suppose it could be imagined as something else, maybe a birds beak?

I worked my way around this area capturing many images, most of which will not be posted. Somewhere I read an article that described my actions like those of a photographer “dancing around a teacup”, shooting a teacup from all directions, looking for that one magic or unique view. I have to admit that I’m often guilty of this.

More pareidolia, I’m seeing the face of some sort of animal creature in the rightmost portion of this rock, enjoying the last sun rays of the day.

In the mostly shadowy area in which I was standing, looking out across the vast desert, I noted one small area being highlighted, as if in a spotlight of the late day light.

I knew when I saw the skeleton of a small desert tree that I wanted to somehow include it in one or more images. Its location made compositions including it difficult. It was highlighted by the late day sun, when I first spotted it, but the sun was rapidly sinking and the little tree rapidly going into shadow. By the time I determined the best way to compose around the tree and got a couple of fairly decent shots, the tree was mostly in shadow.

Anyway, I think the tree provides a subtle foreground object for these two images.

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

This is a continuation of an exploration and sunset shoot in Valley of Fire, Nevada in March of 2023.

The late day sun rays made this rock look like an ancient warriors golden helmet.

When I saw this vertical arch and the way it was attached between the rocks above and that beneath, I immediately thought of it as a blood sucking insect. As I move around the rock that first impression was reinforced.

A few minutes later I found another rock that appeared to be another blood sucking creature.

It is not unusual to find rock faces with these little holes along rock interfaces that look like they were purposely designed as perforations at which to separate the rock layers.

I might have disturbed this rock creatures rest, as it appears to be opening one eye to see what has awakened it.

The golden hour is now in full force as the magic sunset hour begins to color the desert rocks golden yellow.

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

This is the second part of our final sunset shoot in March 2023 in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I’m always amazed at the rock sculpture nature provides for us to enjoy.

There is definitely a wary looking face in this rock that appears to be watching me as I make this image. Maybe this rock has had bad experiences with humans in the past.

While the image may not be a greatly attractive scene, I found it interesting enough to take time to capture it. There is much texture, interesting rock shapes and lines running through the rock. The image name is for the narrow wash in the center that has an accumulation of sand at the bottom center.

I moved to the right from the last composition to make this image, which shows off some of the more interesting features in the rock. The rock at the top, with its concave erosional form reminds me of a baseball catcher’s mitt. With the Texas Rangers clinching a berth in the 2023 World Series, maybe this is an appropriate time to post this image.

A close up, color version, of the “Catcher’s Mitt”.

Erosion has created holes in these rocks that I can imagine animals or ancient people using as shelters. Modern day man might even take temporary shelter in one of these in an emergency.

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot

I’ve decided to move on to our final sunset shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, rather than write another blog on our early morning shoot near our campground. But I will include one more image from that early morning shoot here.

Initially, I did not think highly of this image, but the more I looked at it, the better I liked it. The shadows, colors and features in the foreground rock with its ridge leading into the background were the impetus for this composition. Maybe my thought process leading to this composition was ok, after all.

Moving on…

The earliest photos shot while scouting and anticipating golden hour are seldom the (my) best, many do not even get processed and sometimes I’m grasping to just find something in these shots worthy of posting anywhere. So I apologize in advance, if my images chosen for this post are of little interest to readers.

There must be a better composition here.

And there is a better composition here, but I did not see it until near the end of this sunset shoot. Sometime one must move around more to see the obvious. I will return to this location in another post with much better compositions at this location.

Wandering about, I walked down a narrow passageway between two massive rock features, noted the nooks, holes and vertical feature in one of those rocks and I had to stop to capture this with late day sun on features in the background.

Nooks and Crannies – Monochrome – Close up

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 26 – Sunrise Near Campground

My son and I decided to walk from our campsite into the nearby area for a sunrise shoot on our final day in Valley of Fire State Park. The scenery near the campground is not as impressive as in other areas in the park, so I was not sure how this would turn out.

The early morning light enhanced the color in the rock features and highlighted the desert grasses, but as I edited the photos, I felt that a monochromatic treatment was more appropriate for many of the scenes that I captured.

The early morning light was good, the color in the rocks good and I always like the way the low elevation sunlight highlights the desert vegetation. To be sure the light quality was what drives us to get up early to photograph the landscape, but maybe it was the lack of spectacular features and the clear, bland sky that inspired me to go with monochrome for these few selected photos.

I’m still trying to decide whether to post other photos from this morning’s shoot or move on to our final sunset shoot. My indecision and the need to review more images, plus other distractions, might create an interruption of my goal of posting twice weekly.

Indecisively yours,

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 21 – Sunset Shoot

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

In Part 20 of this blog, I included a similar photo made by standing closer to the big rock in the foreground. I think that image is more dramatic, but I backed up to included the little bush at the bottom left in this image to add a bit of “life” in the image.

It is the “rainy” season here and there is new greenery softening the hard rock desert.

Occasional small ponds give evidence of recent rains in this soon to be baking landscape.

Pathway – Muted footprints of previous visitors in the sand

To be continued,

Ken

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 20 – Sunset Shoot

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

There must be a geological explanation of how the spines running across these rock layers form. My initial thought was that the spines represent more well cemented sand, but how does the cementation process cross the layers? Ancient water flow vertically? Or maybe the spines are a result of some erosional force that affects some areas of the rock and not others as much. Maybe water drainage patterns down the rock face? Can wind erosion do this?

Daylight fades, but the desert rocks will endure the extremes of weather here for many more days.

Maybe he was just adjusting a circular polarizer, but he is in my shot.

Rocks in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada exhibit varied and interesting structure, patterns and textures. I have tried to capture those features in many of my photographs in this desert area. I made a series of photographs in the vicinity of this image to showcase the rock fabric from various viewpoints.

To be continued,

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

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Tag: Rock Forms

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot (continued)

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 27 – Final Sunset Shoot

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 26 – Sunrise Near Campground

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

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 21 – Sunset Shoot

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 20 – Sunset Shoot

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

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

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