Valley of Fire State Park – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

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 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 25 – Another Sunset Shoot

This is a continuation of a late day shoot in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, March 2023.

My oldest son (on top of the peak in the lower right) shot the storm from other higher elevation vantage points and complained that I did not come up to join him. I have not seen his photos, so I don’t know how to compare his to mine, but he is of the opinion that he had better views than I did. I was busy shooting what I saw from my location and I thought I might miss out on the scene by taking time to move elsewhere and at least I know that we did not get identical shots.

This wraps up today’s sunset shoot. Next up, sunrise in the desert near the campground in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Until then,

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.

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.

To be continued,

Ken

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 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

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

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Tag: Valley of Fire State Park

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 26 – Sunrise Near Campground

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 25 – Another Sunset Shoot

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada – March 2023 – Part 24 – Another Sunset Shoot

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

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