David Howell Travel Photography and Map Blog

Strange rock formation suggestive … of art or science? Where does all this sand come from?

Millions of acres of sand, farther than the eye can see. To the horizon and beyond. Moved by water and wind.

Then moved again or buried by later deposits. Time passes….

Both male and female forms are present. Together, resting comfortably in the sand that they created….

“Plan to equip yourself with good brouges as the land is craggy.”

Terrain like this Mojave Desert photo is what came to mind when I read this advice. But this shoe guidance was included in the welcoming information from a ‘riad’ in Fez, Morocco. A riad is a traditional Moroccan guest house. The streets in the old town section of Fez must be rough. But they certainly aren’t as rough as this jumble of boulders in Joshua Tree National Park.

I am making arrangements for my next photo excursion. This fall we will tour Andelucìa in southern Spain. Then I will continue on to Morocco and finish the trip in The Dolomites of northern Italy….

The beaches of Los Angeles are bathed in yellowing light as the evening sun shines through the haze euphemistically known there as the ‘marine layer’. Traffic is crawling as the freeways are filled with frustrated commuters. Angry horn blasts, sirens, and road construction equipment add background chaos. Air conditioners are overloading the electric grid. It is a typical August day in southern California.

There is an oasis of quiet nearby….

The Earth is often referred to as ‘the third rock from the Sun’.

WARNING: This post contains graphic images and explicit geologic explanations!

The desert is a harsh setting. Only the adapted and fortunate survive. Lessons have to be learned quickly. Decisions carry serious consequences.

National parks and monuments in the desert are good places for contemplation. The landscapes are enormous and the mind can wander farther than the views. You are not distracted by artificial urgencies. The commercial world is not represented.

The desert allows a person to sort through the experiences of the past and evaluate the lessons that should have been learned….

Each of these two photos is interesting in its own way, to me. I was trying to educate myself on composition and lighting. And I have a lot to learn. As with all art what interests one person may be inconsequential to another.

There are the technical aspects of apeture, shutter speed, ISO, focus etc. Then there is the personal composition-why that vantage point; what is shown in the photograph; what is not shown; what is suggested; what was he thinking; was it just intriguing at the moment without a coherent intention; was it just a reaction to a setting?

OK, photography won’t solve climate change or reduce our dependence on petroleum. It won’t provide new jobs or feed hungry families. This one job doesn’t do that much to feed my family either.

So why spend days planning and hours shooting photographs? Is it really work if you enjoy it? What is the value? Are you contributing anything?

If you will excuse a somewhat personal and serious posting, I wanted to talk about these issues from my perspective. I used to be a soil scientist. Now I am a photographer….

Punxsutawney Phil says six more weeks of winter! Happy Groundhog Day, Campers! Rise and shine!!

Here is some dry heat as an antidote! This photo screams hot and arid.

But first, what is Groundhog Day?

In the USA there is a tradition of publicizing whether a certain groundhog sees his shadow on February 2. If he does, then it is supposed to predict more winter. The small town of Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania picked up on an ancient myth from the Roman holiday of Candlemas….

Now, why this photo and how can I make a segue from Groundhog Day?

If you are tired of crowds, stress, and noise consider a trip to a desert near you!

In the late evening, in summer, after the sun has set, there is a long dusk. The sky is open. The vistas are immense. The sounds are limited to wind moving through hardy brush, dry grass, and, in this case, Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia Engelm.). There are no lights, no cars, no buses, no television, and no sirens.

It is still very warm at dusk, although it cools off later. The quiet masks the activity that increases after the sun sets….

On a quiet evening in Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, USA,  I was intending to photograph the low-angle light on the granitic rock formations. I walked to a desolate ravine between massive jumbles of bolders. I had taken some wide angle photos of the immense landscape views and had just changed to a telephoto [...]