Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Joshua Trees

Another rich location that is close to home for me (reasonably at 2 1/2 - 3 hours) is Joshua Tree National Park. About an hour northeast of Palm Springs, it's probably not as well known as some of the other parks around the southwest, but it's a huge (over 500,000 acres), uncrowded area with loads of unique and interesting landscapes.. great for photographers & painters (also campers and rock climbers). It includes 2 different desert climate zones, the Colorado and the Mojave, and you can find an unlimited variety of awesome rock formations, plants, wildflowers and wildlife. You can hike out into the rocks and wander around all day and not see another soul if you don't want to. The Joshua Trees are actually a variety of cactus, but they grow tall with many branches and in large groves; thus the "tree" in the name. The Mojave climate is higher, cooler and wetter so they thrive here. (Look really close almost dead center in this image and you will see 2 people sitting out in the boulders.. I left them in for a sense of scale. The rising moon seems really small due to the wide angle lens).
"Evening Light" - Joshua Tree

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Mark,

The first one looks like a painting and the second is really stunning !

For me it's a very well known place (ever if i've never seen it for real) because i spent at least 20 years of my life with rock climbing :)

roentare said...

Seriously, I cannot tell if these images were real! They look so unusual and special. Beautiful images!

M Dawson said...

This all sounds SO exotic to me (from UK living in New Zealand). I have added you to my blog following list - I look forward to seeing your next images

storybeader said...

beautiful images. I love landscapes, and that top pic looks like a painting, not a photo! And the moon is real special in "Evening Light." Great balance to the image.

Mark Alan Meader said...

I have heard it is very popular for rock climbing; didn't realize it was known in Europe, but I guess that makes sense when I think about it... I know people come from all over the world to climb in Yosemite. They film lots of car commercials here too; close to LA and fantastic backgrounds.

You're right James.. there is an unreal atmosphere here. I have some other images where it looks like it must be another planet (will post more soon).

Thanks Marjorie and welcome. New Zealand is definitely on my list to visit, but don't know when it will be possible.

SBeader: Glad you like the moon.. was tempted to take it out since it is too small and bright to show any detail, but decided that I like it there anyway!

Anonymous said...

lovely photography, the lighting is exquisite, you have an excellent camera eye. r.

Michele Cameron Drew said...

You have a blog award waiting for you on my art blog. You can pick it up at Digital Artisan.

Congratulations!

-M

Anonymous said...

interesting stuff, well captured.......good exposure and color rendition