Welcome back everyone! We’re transitioning this week back stateside, but not home to East Tennessee, rather to one of my favorite regions of the US – the Southwest. I don’t know why I’m so fascinated with the desert, but I absolutely love it. I think it’s just so “other” from what I’m used to here in the foothills of the Smokies.
Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to go out west to New Mexico, Arizona, and California. I went for work, actually, but while I was there I had time to go do some exploring; it was fantastic. One thing I wasn’t counting on, however, were storms! It rained almost every day I was there! Typically when I go out west I’m trying to time it with the new moon so that I can get some good night images (the skies are so much better out there), and so it was particularly frustrating to not be seeing stars. I did my best to mentally rally, and came away with some images I’m excited about.
To start things off, I wanted to share this image I got of a sunrise in Joshua Tree. I’ve always found these trees a challenge to photograph, mostly because my brain wants uniformity, and their whimsical shape does not comply. On this particular morning I found some nice ones that I really liked, along with some of the rock formations the park is famous for, and of course it helped a LOT that the sky totally lit up. As I was watching this gorgeous sunrise, I had to keep reminding myself that skies like this only happen when there are clouds, so despite my longing for clear night skies, this was a blessing also.
More next week!
–Dan Thompson