I don’t know what we expected. After visiting two of America’s most famous national parks, we went to Joshua Tree National Park which looks a lot like where we live. I do not like the desert. The air feels stale. The lack of trees is soul-sucking. Everything feels dirty and dusty. It’s hotter than God designed our bodies to be, especially given the lack of shade from trees – the list goes on. We weren’t terribly excited to see the desert again. Nonetheless, we headed down to see what the park had to offer.
From the north park entrance to Jumbo Rocks Campground was 18 miles. There were plenty of places we could’ve stopped to see rocks and Joshua Trees but we had little to no interest. The kids were napping in the back of the RV, I was in my first wave of tree withdrawals, and my pregnant wife wasn’t interested in getting out during the hottest part of the day. We enjoyed the views from the air-conditioned cab of the RV and went straight toward our campsite.
When we made our reservation a few months prior options were limited. However, upon arrival, I was pleased with our choice. A large rock provided enough shade at that time of day to keep us out of the sun. We brought out the bin of toys for the kids to play with. I was given many piles of dirt in frisbees under the guise of delicious warm pies of varying flavors. I noticed these yellow flowers poking out from between a couple of rocks. Things that seem to sprout from rocks like this are funny-looking to me. I like the texture of the rock here, also.
From our chairs in the shade of the rock, we could see this interesting formation out in the distance. I like this photo because it is obviously abstract with the natural rock formations but the lines give the scene a geometric feel also. The single rock perched on top making a hole is fun also. I thought it would be fun to take a photo with the sun placed in that hole however, it wasn’t the right time of year for the sun to deliver accordingly.
In the morning, I woke up before the rest of the family, per usual, and went to take some photos. I came up with a pair of silhouettes that seemed nice. I like this one for the variety of objects it contains. The Joshua Tree, pair of rocks, and two yuccas on the outside make for some visual interest that I enjoy.
I like this trio of Joshua Trees as well. Had I taken one step to the right the rocks in the background might have separated themselves from the tree on the right.
As I walked back to the campsite, I realized that this one tree nearly fit in the rock formation behind it. I wish I had been able to get about 6 feet higher to decrease the separation between the two. I also played with the aperture setting quite a bit to get the focus of the rocks to be something I was happy with. I’m still not entirely pleased with what I settled on but it was a good experiment.
On our way out, a covey of quail ran by our campsite. The kids enjoyed watching them and I tried to learn some about the autofocus system of the Z6. I have more to get used to as far as that goes however, one seemed to sit still enough for a single photo.
We left the park feeling unenthused to stay outside the park for one more night and ended up just driving past the area we had intended to stay. The desert was wearing on us and I was ready to head home if there were no more trees to be seen. We cut the trip short by a day but were content with that decision. Thank you for reading this week. As the holidays ramp up things will get busier but I think I can still keep up with posts here.
Jim December 3, 2023
Barrett, you are such a whiner!
The wall of funky rocks with all the diagonal joints (seams? cracks?) is great. I also really like the first silhouette: each of the separate elements is nicely spaced from the others and the deep colors are great. Very well executed.
I do also like the yellow flowers between the rocks, although I think the little cleft at the top is distracting and it would be nice if the bottom of the flowers had a little space to breathe—it looks like the bottom of the frame almost gives it enough space. It could, however, be that there wasn’t any more workable room at the bottom of the frame. If not, perhaps a tighter crop that doesn’t try to show all of the yellow flowers is an option. Regardless, it is nice to see the yellow flowers cascade down between those rocks. You might want to warm it up a little and brighten the yellows a bit, though.