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.


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.


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.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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!

Gorgeous shots, Mahesh!

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!!

Beautiful shots. If I had to pick, I would say #4 and #7 are my favs.

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!

Great set Mahesh, but I really love your lizard capture

Great shots Mahesh!

FYI - the lizard is a Desert spiny lizard ([FONT=Arial]Sceloporus magister)[/FONT], the blue means he's out looking for lizard ladies.

Fantastic set!

I favor #3 and #4. You are getting some great stuff with your GF1 and its wide angle lens!

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!

Thanks, everyone! It was a great trip, but way too short. I'll have to return in the early spring.

Beautiful set- my favorite is the sunset from Ryan Mt (#10) - I just love the tones.

Thank you for the wonderful story! And holy cow are those some ears on that rabbit. (I bet she heard me typing that)

It is truly stunning... you found a use for an iPad!

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.

Beautiful series. You really had some night skies and lighting to work with. Well done.

Awesome series Mahesh !