A fallen Joshua Tree provides a cool-hued foreground to a lovely, warm after-sunset scene of layered mountains distant behind a group of Joshua trees still standing tall--some with almost perfect upright form and others beautiful in their leaning awkwardness as seems the predominate growth pattern of the species--in Joshua Tree National Park, California.
While we were wandering through the park earlier that day, scouting for shooting locations, we heard the incessant yipping chatter of what sounded like two packs of coyotes encountering one another somewhere in this majestic rock-rimmed high desert valley. The coyotes' tones seemed dramatic and vehement, with little to suggest that mutual understanding was their goal.
But the cooler night brought a measure of quiet as the coyotes had either moved on or found their peace, and as most other people in the wider area departed fairly quickly after sunset rather than waiting for the final colorful streaks to fade from the scene. Not far away was a little campground nestled among the openings in one of the innumerable jumbled rock formations that rise like islands in the desert, providing pleasing visuals and rock climbing thrills. The Park Service provides old-school charcoal grills on fixed posts in some of these camping areas and we could see cooking firelight flickering high on the huge khaki-hued boulders, the dancing light prominent against the dark skies filled with stars.
I imagined the fires of more ancient peoples in these lands--were they able to subsist or thrive here?--and I remember finding the tune of one my favorite older songs--San Jacinto by Peter Gabriel--flowing through my head accompanied by the scattered chirps and rustles of nature's burgeoning activity in the deepening desert night. It was only a short walk back to the car after sunset that evening, but it struck all the right notes in my mind.
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Tags: Joshua Tree Sunset National Park California Desert Joshua Trees Nikon Landscape Beautiful photobenedict Dusk Evening Night Cactus Fallen Tree Mountains San Jacinto Southwest Silhouette Sage Spring Rocks
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There are countless grander vistas that I love throughout the world, but I'm not sure there's anyplace I more enjoy simply being for sunrise than on the Mesquite Dunes at Death Valley National Park.
If there are whirling winds creating dynamic conditions or well-textured clouds above reflecting an epic spectrum of sunrise color, all the better, but on just an average calm morning under clear skies, I'm still absolutely at peace almost every time when I'm there.
This is little more than a simple snapshot from a morning a few years ago of the familiar light and shadow on the dunes at dawn, but I smiled fondly to myself in recollected feeling when I saw it while going through old files and thus decided to share.
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Tags: Mesquite Dunes Death Valley National Park California Sunrise Nikon Landscape Desert Sand Dunes Light Shadow photobenedict Winter Beautiful Dunes Warm Cool Morning Dawn Stovepipe Wells Gold Golden Yellow
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