Tag: Rocks

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.

Monochrome Desert Morning 1

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.

Monochrome Desert Morning 2
Monochrome Desert Morning 3
Monochrome Desert Morning 4
Monochrome Desert Morning – Split Rock
Monochrome Desert Morning 5
Monochrome Desert Morning 6

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 24 – Another Sunset Shoot

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

Seeking Shelter
Skyline
Calm before the Storm
Light before the Dark
Skylight
Storm Light

I made many images with the late day light changing as the sun sank into the western horizon with clouds moving overhead and a distant storm on the easterly horizon.  I’m presenting a few selected images in this post.

Storm Light 6
Storm Light 7
Storm Light 10
Optical Filters
Storm Light 11

To be continued,

Ken

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

Hourglass

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.

Light before the Storm

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

The Light and the Storm

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.

The Light and the Storm 2

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.

The Light and the Storm 3

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.

The Light and the Storm 4

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.

Storm Reveal

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.

Rain Wish

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.

Desert Structure 9
Desert Structure 10

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

 

Desert Structure 11

 

To Reach the Gold, One Must Overcome the Obstacles

 

Desert Structure 15 – The Funnel

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

Desert Topping

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

Desert Topping 2

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.

Flow and Glow

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.

Desert Structure & Life

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.

Desert Green

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

Desert Pond

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

Pathway – Muted footprints of previous visitors in the sand
A Sheltered Life

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.

Spines and Layers

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?

Spiny Rock
Desert Eve
Endurance

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

What’s He Shooting?

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

Desert Structure 1

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.

Desert Structure 2
Desert Structure 3
The Highway – Desert Structure 4
Desert Structure 5

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.

Serene Desert 5
Serene Desert 6
Desert Surf

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

Stage Light

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

Life on the Rocks

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

Life on the Rocks 2
Rock Huggers

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.

Serene Desert 7
Serene Desert 8

 

Fin Rocks

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.

Looking Sunward

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

Rock River

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

Rock Spring

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.

Sand Generator

Rock makes sand, sand makes rock, cycle repeats.

Wonderful Geology

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.

Shadow Remains

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

Serena Desert 3

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

Desert Serenity 4

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

Rock Fall

Rock texture mimics a waterfall.

Whirlpool

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.

Fire Wall

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

Against the Wall
Laminar Desert
The Not So Grassy Slope
Shadow Divide

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.

Pebble Ridge

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.

Desert Shrubs

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.

Fire Wave 1

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

The Fire Wave, East Side

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.

Fire Wave, East Side 2
Fire Wave

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.

Fire Wave 2

To be continued,

Ken