Cactus Chronicles

thapamdthapamd Registered Users Posts: 1,722 Major grins
edited May 13, 2010 in Landscapes
Last week I was down in San Diego for another Radiology conference. After the conference, my buddy, Joel, and I decided to visit Joshua Tree National Park for the weekend. The Park is about a 3-½ hr drive northeast of San Diego, and offers some of the most beautiful desert landscape terrain in the world. In this blog, I’ll share with you my favorite shots from the short visit.

Home to picturesque, twisted trees and massive rock formations, Joshua Tree is sandwiched between the Mojave and Sonora Deserts. Joshua Tree National Monument was established in 1936, and the Desert Protection Act upgraded it to National Park status in 1994.

We drove to Twentynine Palms, a gateway town to Joshua Tree, located just north of the park. As an interesting bit of information, this town is home to the largest Marine base in the world.

We arrived late Friday afternoon and explored the park from the comfort of our air-conditioned car. When the outside temperature became more bearable, we took a nice stroll through the Hidden Valley nature trail, where we saw fascinating rock formations and labeled desert vegetation. Below is an image of a particularly interesting rock, which to me looks like the “Flying Elvis” logo found on the New England Patriot’s football helmets.

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Flying Elvis Rock, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6

We then headed up to Keys View. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor and much of the distant mountain ranges were obscured by haze. However, I did manage to capture an image of a photogenic lizard with a multi-colored underbelly, basking on a warm rock.

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Joshua Tree Lizard, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6

That evening we headed over to the White Tank Campground and hiked the easy Arch Rock nature trail, where I captured the image below of Arch Rock.

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Arch Rock, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 7-14mm f/4

The next morning we awoke before sunrise and headed back into the park. The light was spectacular, and below are my attempts at capturing it.

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Joshua Tree Silhouette, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6

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Standing Proud, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 7-14mm f/4

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Two of a Kind, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 7-14mm f/4

Later that morning, we found ourselves in the Cholla Cactus Garden capturing wildflowers and Teddy Bear Cholla cacti.

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Teddy Bears and Wildflowers, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 7-14mm f/4

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Backlit Cholla Cacti, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6

While at the Cholla Cactus Garden, a long-eared denizen popped out to pay us a visit. She eyed us suspiciously for a few seconds, wiggled her nose, and hopped away.

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Desert Jackrabbit, Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 400mm f/5.6L

By 8 am the light was getting harsh, and we headed back to Twentynine Palms, grabbed some breakfast at a local diner, downloaded our images, and took a well-deserved nap. We awoke in the afternoon and headed back to Joshua Tree. Around 5 pm we began a moderate 3-mile hike up to Ryan Mountain where we ate dinner and photographed the sunset.

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Ryan Mountain Sunset, Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 14-45 f/3.5-5.6

We then headed down the trail with headlamps illuminating our path. On our way back to town, we pulled off the road to photograph star-trails. We watched a 1 hr 40 min movie on my iPad while our cameras captured the celestial movements above Joshua Tree. I combined one hundred consecutive 1-minute exposures for the star trail shot you see below. During the first minute of exposure, I used my headlamp to illuminate the foreground. The camera was set to manual exposure at f/4 and 60 seconds on "burst mode". I attached a cable release and locked down the exposure button.

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Star Trails Over Joshua Tree, Panasonic GF-1 & Panasonic 7-14mm f/4

The next morning we slept in, packed up and headed back to San Diego to catch a plane to Seattle. I hope you enjoyed these images and thanks for visiting!
Shoot in RAW because memory is cheap but memories are priceless.

Mahesh
http://www.StarvingPhotographer.com

Comments

  • CWSkopecCWSkopec Registered Users Posts: 1,325 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Gorgeous shots, Mahesh! thumb.gif

    All are good, but Arch Rock and "Standing Proud" are real standouts. My only nit on any of them would be to clone out the plane trails from the star trails image (they're a little distracting as they interupt the circular pattern).

    Now, no more conferences in San Diego for you! You're getting more good shots in & around SD than I am! AND I LIVE HERE!! rolleyes1.gif
    Chris
    SmugMug QA
    My Photos
  • jpcjpc Registered Users Posts: 840 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Beautiful shots. If I had to pick, I would say #4 and #7 are my favs.
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Very nice set of pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

    I especially like Joshua Tree Silhouette. I'm not a morning person, but that looks like it would be worth getting up early to see in person!

    The jackrabbit is also cool - it's nice to see wildlife shots that aren't birds! :D
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Great set Mahesh, but I really love your lizard capture clap.gif
  • wfellerwfeller Registered Users Posts: 2,625 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Great shots Mahesh!

    FYI - the lizard is a Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister), the blue means he's out looking for lizard ladies.
    Anybody can do it.
  • Sexy6ChickSexy6Chick Registered Users Posts: 948 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2010
    Fantastic set!
    ~*Natalie*~

    A lover of all things photography.

    Olympus E-500

    My Smugmug Gallery
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator
    edited May 10, 2010
    I favor #3 and #4. You are getting some great stuff with your GF1 and its wide angle lens!
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • Alpha_PlusAlpha_Plus Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2010
    Top shots Mahesh. I love the star trails, sunset shot and the arch rock! Thanks for the stories too - looks like it was a good weekend!
    Karl Lindsay
    Nikon D600
    Samyang 14mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 | Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
    Induro CT-014 Tripod
    karllindsayphotography.com | Photos on Facebook | 500px
  • thapamdthapamd Registered Users Posts: 1,722 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2010
    Thanks, everyone! It was a great trip, but way too short. I'll have to return in the early spring. :D
    Shoot in RAW because memory is cheap but memories are priceless.

    Mahesh
    http://www.StarvingPhotographer.com
  • JoashotsJoashots Registered Users Posts: 138 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2010
    Beautiful set- my favorite is the sunset from Ryan Mt (#10) - I just love the tones.
    Joash R

    If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do. - Samuel Butler
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2010
    Thank you for the wonderful story! And holy cow are those some ears on that rabbit. bowdown.gif (I bet she heard me typing that)
  • coscorrosacoscorrosa Registered Users Posts: 2,284 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2010
    It is truly stunning... you found a use for an iPad! lol3.gif

    These are all great, my favorite is Standing Proud. Those backlit cacti shots are awesome too. Definitely a place I need to visit, though I'd be lucky to come away with shots like this.
  • grimacegrimace Registered Users Posts: 1,534 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2010
    Beautiful series. You really had some night skies and lighting to work with. Well done.
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited May 13, 2010
    Awesome series Mahesh !
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

    My Gallery
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