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.
Movie Set Remains
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.
Where Many Have Trodden
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.
Natural PathwayClosing InRock FeaturesThrough A Rock’s Eye
It was a cloudy, overcast morning for this outing in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.
Niche
I’m always amazed at how some desert shrubs can survive with very little in the way of actual soil in which to put down roots.
Rocky LifeScarred MonolithWill it Rain?Rock SpineOn The RocksRock PortalsRocky Little CanyonBeginning or Ending?
A narrow wash with an apparent dead end, but is it the end of this canyon in the making or is this wash continuing to grow into a canyon? I suspect erosion will continue at a very slow rate and this short, shallow wash will grow into a deeper and longer canyon over a geologic time interval.
Cholla Sentinel
This was supposed to be a sunrise shoot, but as one can see there was little sunshine early this morning.
More scouting and exploration photos in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.
Intricate Rock, iPhone PhotoDesert Flower, iPhone PhotoDesert Shadows, iPhone PhotoNatural Imperfections or Non-Photogenic Nature?, iPhone Photo
Nature is messy and cluttered. Photographers don’t like clutter, even if it is a part of nature. I cropped this photo to remove some of the natural clutter, mostly on the bottom left. There remains some clutter on the bottom left and what about that unkempt looking bush and roots on the pond border? Is it really necessary to clean up a natural scene, to make a more pleasing photo? It depends upon one’s vies of the world and one’s idea of photography and purpose of the photo. Sometimes one may want to show the clutter, sometimes not. Sometimes clutter can’t be avoided.
X Marks the Spot, iPhone PhotoNodular, iPhone PhotoPetrified Dunes, iPhone PhotoRock Ribs, iPhone PhotoDroopy Rocks, iPhone Photo
The way my eyes look in the morning.
Ridgy Rocks 1, iPhone PhotoTo the Desert Born, iPhone Photo
More photos from scouting and exploring Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, March of 2023.
Inside to Outside, iPhone PhotoMultiple Arches, iPhone PhotoRock of Many Windows, iPhone PhotoChecking the LCD, iPhone PhotoThrough an Arch, iPhone PhotoArch Light, iPhone PhotoPhotographic Inclination, iPhone PhotoShouldering the Load, iPhone PhotoSky View Arch, iPhone Photo
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.
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.
A continuation of images made during a hike in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada in March of 2023.
Through an Arch, iPhone Photo
There were a few arches in the canyon walls bordering this hiking trail. Small arches are plentiful in this area.
End of the Trail, iPhone Photo
This trail ends at a drop off into a narrow chasm, which at this time of the year contained a pool of water.
Arch, iPhone Photo
Another small arch atop a rock outcrop.
Arch, iPhone Photo
Another small, but still sizable arch along the trail.
Rock Eye, iPhone Photo
Light bouncing around inside some of the smaller arches and holes in the rocks creates interesting color, bringing out the patterns in the rock. This one looks like an eye in a rugged face.
There are many arches of various sizes all through out Valley of Fire State Park and in this area, in general, where the sandstone has been eroded away over long time intervals of exposure to wind, rain, freezing and thawing. The arches are not on the size of those found in Utah’s Arches National Park, but seemingly more numerous.
Sunlight reflects around inside the arches, creating wonderful lighting on the rock surface.
Arch, iPhone Photo
The arches in this post are found along a short hiking trail and can be spotted by looking up into the canyon walls, which can be spectacular, too.
There is an open area along this trail with many nice cholla cacti. I had to refrain from trying to photograph each one, as I’ve always found these enticing.
We stopped short of completing this hike today, since we wanted to get to an area that we had chosen for sunset photos.
As I was finishing my late day shoot, a bunny rabbit hopped between me and my final composition. This little guy did not seem exceptionally concerned about my presence, but was nevertheless cautious and uncertain about my possible threat. It sat still as if hoping not to be seen, as it blended in well with the background, while I snapped an iPhone camera image.
These photos reveal how the cloud cover increased as I was shooting. There was a storm front coming in and I felt a few drops of rain, so I wrapped up my shoot and headed back to my campsite.
The wind picked up considerably as the storm came through. I could see lightening to the west and east, but other than gusty winds, the storm never came over the campsite. I was able to get a weak phone signal, sufficient to consult the weather channel and view the radar, which showed the major portion of the storm to the west and east and did not show any significant danger of thunderstorms over the campsite.
I tried sleeping in the penthouse, watching the distant lightening in the west and east. The gusty wind resulted in my putting the penthouse down as a precaution and sleeping down below. The gusty winds kept me awake for a significant portion of the night. I had already decided that another day here was not justified, so I decided to sleep a little longer, to be better rested for my drive to Badlands National Park, rather than go out for sunrise photography.
