A Day in Joshua Tree
In early January, I had a free day to myself before going back to work so I decided to spend it in Joshua Tree National Park. I brought my camera along but I didn’t have too many expectations for this trip. I simply wanted to explore the park.
As I was roaming around the park I saw some climbers scaling one of the huge rock formations. I am extremely scared of heights so seeing these brave souls make their way up the face was extremely mind-blowing. I noticed that they were so tactical as they made their way up. They clearly have done this before. Before I knew it one of the climbers was on top of the formation. Simply amazing.
I was able to make a few images of various climbers throughout the afternoon. Below are some of my favorites.
I spent some time scouting areas of the park that I haven't spent too much time in. After walking around for about twenty minutes I noticed some lenticular clouds off in the distance. I have only seen lenticular clouds three times and two of those times have been in Joshua Tree. Given how rare of an occasion this was for me I started looking for potential compositions that would work well with the formations. I eventually found myself on top of a rock formation that overlooked a grove of Joshua Trees in a “V” formation. Below is the image I made of that scene.
Lately I have been dabbling in panoramas. That wide format has always been appealing to me especially for landscape imagery. For locations like Joshua Tree National Park, it really conveys that vastness scale of the landscape. As I was scouting in the eastern portion of the park, a scene caught my eye. It was one larger Joshua tree in the foreground and smaller Joshua Trees on either side and more trees continuing on in the background. I took my time trying to ensure that the trees were nicely spaced throughout the frame. I wish there was more visual interest in the sky but I am still very happy how the image turned out. This panorama is comprised of six vertical images stitched together in post-production.
Until next time. Happy shooting. - Marco