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"Joshua Tree Nightscape" It’s long been known that our cognitive brain health declines as we age and that diet, exercise, sleep, social interaction and mental stimulation can prevent it. As I’ve aged, I’ve noticed the normal changes in my own cognitive function but I hope that as I sharpen photography skills (including night sky photography), will help; I have my fingers crossed! I pre-planned this location earlier in the day (I even marked the spot where I’d stand). With the help of an app, I knew exactly where and what time the milky way would line up with this scene. What I didn’t realize however (until after the shoot) was that the milky way was rather “blah” from that angle; hmmm, so what to do? I decided to learn something new by blending a previous Milky Way photograph with the foreground; the results of which you see here. This now known as a “composite" image; which is an image comprised of two or more images to create one. Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area, not far Palm Springs, California. The high elevation of the park is characterized by it's rugged rock formations, Joshua Trees, “dark sky” landscapes and sunsets. The Joshua "tree" is not really a tree because it belongs to the yucca plant family. They typically grow only in higher elevations (1,300 to 6,000 feet) and grow quite slowly (up to 3 inches per year). They have an average lifespan of 150-200 years but some live much longer.... hmmm, maybe I will too, lol!
Located on the border of Arizona and California, Lake Havasu is 3 hours west of Phoenix, 2.5 hours south of Las Vegas and 5 hours east of Los Angeles. As part of the Colorado river, the lake was created with the completion of the Parker dam 1938 and has since become a year round tourist destination, with more than 400 miles of coastline and a multitude of outdoor activities including boating, fishing, camping, hiking and camping. The planned community of Lake Havasu City was founded in 1964 and was really “put on the map”, when the original London Bridge was moved and re-built brick by brick. Before dismantling the original bridge, each brick was numbered, then shipped to Long Beach California where it was then transported overland to Lake Havasu. Reassembly began in 1968 and was completed in 1971. The beaches around Lake Havasu reminded me of a tropical destination. Wow! It was easy to imagine I was in the Caribbean; with the lush palm trees, sandy beaches, the lapping of the turquoise water and the warmth of the sun too. This image was taken from one of the many local beach parks.
"Death Valley View" - CLICK TO SEE ENTIRE IMAGE. Hmmm, really…. seriously! The wet and windy weather seems to be following me! I’m now in Death Valley and although the weather has been challenging, I did manage to dodge the rain. and get some awesome shots. Honestly though, I love the varied weather because it adds unique lighting, clouds and contrast to my images, like this one. The weather was clinging to the mountains all around me and although it was 17 degrees where I stood, it was snowing along the mountain tops. It was SO windy though, that when I dropped my lens-cap it (in seconds), blew over a ledge. A fine young man from Vancouver Island however was kind enough to retrieve it for me (in flipflops!)…. sheesh! I had visited this location before and although it was only in passing I did manage to get a really unique shot here (visit: ). I decided to camp nearby and planned to be back there for sunrise but (you guessed it), by morning it was raining… yet again! Suddenly though, the sun appeared so I hurriedly got dressed, packed up the RV and drove the the 5 minutes to get there.... AND, Yup, you guessed it (again) the sunlight was gone, oh darn! Okay, so now what to do? I decided to stay in the parking lot, have breakfast and do some editing while I hoped the sun would peak through again. Low and behold, the sun came out just long enough to get a shot! This image is a 4 image panoramic stack; meaning that I’ve stitched 4 images together (in photoshop). As a result, the file is huge and worthy of a monstrous (lol) enlargement. Patience and perseverance paid off.
