Tag Archives: desert

Morning Reflections, Lake Manly Shoreline

Morning Reflections, Lake Manly Shoreline
“Morning Reflections, Lake Manly Shoreline” — Morning clouds and desert mountains reflected in Lake Manly.

By now, those of you who follow my posts have figured out that I made quite a few photographs of Lake Manly on this partly cloudy morning. I hope you’ll forgive me, but the appearance of this lake is not an everyday event, and I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. (Not only did I photograph it a lot on this trip, but I also photographed it two months earlier at the end of December.)

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Stick in the Mud

Stick in the Mud
“Stick in the Mud” — Dead branches on a bed of dried and fractured mud, Death Valley.

As always, cracked desert mud turns out to be an irresistible subject. I photographed this little patch in the northern portion of Death Valley. We arrived as broken clouds were developing, and that gave us varied light as shadows moved across the landscape. I made this photograph in the “in between” light — not full sun, but strong enough to be directional. The mud patterns are interrupted by the pieces of old wood, but that’s not all to notice in this little scene. Look closely and you’ll see a variety of spring plants beginning to grow in this seemingly-barren terrain.

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Desert Star Bouquet

Desert Star Bouquet
“Desert Star Bouquet” — A bouquet of tiny desert star (monoptilon bellioides) flowers, Death Valley.

We stopped in southern Death Valley to photograph big fields of desert gold flowers along with pink/purple sand verbena. Because they are large plants, the colors from both of those were visible from a distance, especially so in the case of desert gold. As we looked for good photo opportunities for those flowers we started to notice the myriad other small plants and flowers underfoot, including the desert stars.

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Mud And Stones

Mud And Stones
“Mud And Stones” — Dark stones embedded in dry, cracked mud, Death Valley.

This little geological vignette intrigued me. While exploring an area in Death Valley featuring very dark, fine gravel that almost has the appearance of shallow dunes, I came across low flat areas where water has obviously collected in the past. Now there was a surface of old mud, cracked into separate pieces as it dried, a familiar desert sight. But here this surface was pockmarked with small black stones.

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