Through the Desert Pass

The night here in the desert had a feeling that time had slowed to a stop like these light trails left by the passing cars.

Ever since my first visit, I’ve always had a love for the Sonoran desert in Tucson. The rough, rocky mountains in shades of brown, reds, and purples broken by the saguaro cactus standing guard.

find it here:  32°13’21” N;  111°6’6” W

supernova

A while back I took a road trip from Minneapolis to Death Valley. It was an great drive in the early spring so not too hot yet.

Driving home, just after passing through St. George, UT this awesome storm started to form right at sunset so I pulled over on the side of I-15N and scrambled up the embankment on the other side looking west towards the Red Cliffs National Conservation area. Just as I got up there, the sun dropped out of the clouds and I was able to grab this photo. Perfect timing!

I took a little snapshot of my set-up for this one with my iPhone so I thought it would be fun to include that below too :)

find it here: 37°11’21” N; 113°24’26” W

desert racers

Usually my work travel takes me to the Pacific Northwest or Midwest but a meeting in Phoenix let me get to Tucson for a couple days.  I was lucky enough to live there for w few years (15 years ago) and interestingly it hasnt changed much.  The funny thing is the city and the people remind my very much of Portland if you ignore the climate differences.

This awesome place is just outside Tucson, AZ (city lights off in the distance). I scrambled up a rocky hill in the dark to get to this view point and used a wide angle lens capture both the up and down sides of the pass. It was an awesome view with a near full moon out to illuminate the bluffs and cactus!

I thought I was sure to run into a rattlesnake but after an hour and seeing nothing I started flipping over rocks trying to at least see a scorpion. Believe it or not, I couldnt even find one of those - I felt a little let down, ha ha!

A combination of 6 exposures - one for the night sky and city, two for foreground and mountains, and a few for the car trails all hand blended in Photoshop.

Find it here:  32°13’21” N;  111°6’6” W

the divide

Death Valley is one of those places that can feel very surreal.  From the dunes and mud flats to the amazing colors that seem to change throughout the day, it’s like another world.  I never get tired of going there, you know what I mean if you’ve been there too :)

This photo was taken at Ubehebe Crater.  It is an ancient volcano, with lots of loose pumice and a little trail going around the rim that beconed for you to walk down it, and when you do it’s like you have tunnel vision since you don’t want to slip down the loose pumice on either side.  I used a tilt-shift lens to only get that sliver in focus.

find it here:  37°0’34” N;   117°27’17” W

pray for rain

i like photographing trees that seem to be out there all by themselves doing their own thing (i’m sure you could psychoanalyze that) so when i got to Arches National Park, this tree on the shoulder of Balanced Rock caught my eye.  i only had one day to spend in this park but it was a great day with moody clouds and rain passing through.  this place is definately on my list to get back to again, hopefully for a few days and at least one overnight in the park to photograph the stars.

Find it here:  38°42’4” N;  109°33’53” W

Delicate Arch in the sun

Up today, is a different view of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.  I snapped this while waiting for sunset.  Before I published it here, it was neat to see that someone grabbed it from my Flickr stream and posted it to their blog called Heck Yeah Utah!  You can check that out by clicking here.  There are some cool photos there to see.

Find it here:  38°44’37” N;  109°29’57” W

Delicate Arch

This is the first image I’m posting from the bunch I took at Arches National Park in the spring. This thing is unbelievable - Delicate Arch sits precariously at the edge of a nearly vertical drop thousands of feet to the canyon below seemingly not much between standing and tipping over and be gone forever. When you walk around it, it’s really hard to believe that it actually formed where it did. This whole park makes the time frame that we occupy our short lives here seem even shorter. There are arches (throughout the park) in various stages of formation and destruction and it really gives you the feeling that our planet is dynamic, not just on our time scale but on something so much larger and almost incomprehensible.

While I was here waiting for sunset and twilight, there were probably 100 other photographers and park visitors waiting with me. Funnily, one other photographer remarked to me “with so many others (photographers) taking photos, we won’t be able to sell these for much…” I smiled politely and chuckled, really laughing at what seemed to be his motivation for being there rather.

Find it here:  38°44’38” N;  109°29’57” W

a brilliant sunset in Utah

Finally getting some time to get through the many photos I’ve been taking over the past few months.  This one was taken along I-70 on my way moving from California to Minneapolis.  I really like driving through this part of the country, its very scenic and it seems like there is never a bad sunset.

Find it here:  38°50’12” N;  111°6’7” W