“A Highlands Cascade” — A small creek tumbes down a hillside, Isle of Skye
I live in a place (San Francisco Bay Area of California) that isn’t exactly a desert, but it also is not particularly wet. Virtually all of our rainfall comes during a mostly-winter rainy season that lasts just a few months, and the rest of the years is generally dry. In fact, by this time of the year many of our hills and valleys have dried to a “California golden”color. So Scotland was quite a contrast for us! It rained at least a little on virtually every day we were there, and water — in rivers, streams, lochs, and the ocean — is everywhere.
“Eroded Hills” — Eroded hills of dark material dotted with desert plants.
This is, in several ways, kind of an odd Death Valley photograph. The fine-grained gravel covering the slopes and hills here are not widespread in the park — in most places the ground tends to be lighter in color. On the other hand, the curving shapes and runoff erosion channels are seen elsewhere, as are the plants. (If you look very closely, you will see not only the larger green plants but lots of small wildflower shoots just emerging.)
“Ivy Roots” — Intertwined ivy roots draping across a concrete retaining wall.
I have walked past this place scores of times — it is along one of my regular walks. I walk almost daily, often along one of a group of familiar routes. It had been weeks since I last did this one, so it was time again to visit it. As I walked along a creek and past some commercial buildings I “saw” something that I have certainly seen before, but not really noticed — a great wall of ivy roots stretched across concrete.
“Playa and Plants — Imaginary Landscape” — An imaginary desert landscape with dry mud and spring plants.
This is another of the “imaginary landscape” photographs. They all begin with the actual landscape, but then I treat the images freely, modifying them in a variety of ways, though always with the the original source material at least somewhat identifiable.
