Bonnie Rannald's Photo-Explorations in focus with nature. : Arizona

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Nature's Artistry with Rocks

Familiar Shapes in Rocks

Rock formations and clouds share a common bond because interesting shapes and images are often found in them.

Perceiving images in objects like rocks and clouds is a psychological phenomenon termed Pareidolia. Many of the master artists including Leonardo da Vinci were aware of pareidolia and used the imagery for artistic expression.

One thing we do have plenty of in the Southwestern Desert is rocks, which most of the time are more numerous than clouds.

Some of my favorite rocks that are great examples pareidolia are as follows:

Natural Bridge in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah stands out against the snow and the Ponderosa forest and is actually an 85 foot (25.908 m) arch. The rusty-orange flying buttresses of Natural Bridge were formed over millions of years by wind, water, and chemical erosion.

Bell Rock in Sedona, Arizona has a distinctive shape and is one of the favorite tourist attractions. Standing at 4,919 feet (1499 m), Bell Rock is actually a butte, composed of horizontally bedded sedimentary rock.

The red and white sandstone of Calico Hills accents the desert landscape in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (RRCNCA) with peaks that extend up 4870 feet (1484 m). Towering in the distance behind Calico Hills at 6324 feet (1928 m) is the famous Turtlehead Peak which is the only limestone formation in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

The Chief, wearing a full headdress watches out from a volcanic cliff at the entrance to Wilson Canyon, Nevada. The two mile long (3.2 km) Wilson Canyon gorge was cut by the Walker River many years ago.

An elephant rock sits atop what was once the lakebed of Walker Lake. During the last Ice Age, the prehistoric Lake Lahontan covered much of northwestern Nevada, as the climate dried, the lake receded, leaving behind unusual tufa based outcroppings.

A colorful outcropping of sandstone resembles an eagle at Buffington Pockets which is an area of unusual rock formations and canyons near the Valley of Fire State Park in Southern Nevada.

In most of the areas where these unique rock formations are located, traces of early humans can be found who left their stories carved in the desert varnish on the faces of these ancient boulders. Over the millennia, many different cultures have lived and hunted through these canyons and along the streams.

Today as I walk on the trails, I feel these ancient spirits that still dwell within the rocks. As I look closely I catch a glimpse of the former inhabitants through the pareidolia that stand out in the rocks. Maybe that is why I feel so drawn to spend countless hours just gazing at rocks. And when the gentle breeze touches my face at dusk, I know that they are there watching over their sacred home.

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Western Grand Canyon

Toroweep Point

One of the most beautiful and intriguing places that I’ve photographed is Toroweep Point, located on the north rim of the western Grand Canyon. To reach Toroweep Point, named by John Wesley Powell to describe the fault, formation and point, requires a 2.5 hour, 60 mile drive on a dirt washboard road without any services, facilities or human habitation. However, to endure the hot and dusty trip takes one to the very edge of the Grand Canyon that offers a view that can only be described as a Cathedral in the Sky.

Upon arriving at road’s end, and departing the vehicle, my first impression is of openness so vast it feels as if I am no longer attached to the earth. Next, the landscape comes in to sight: a magnificent scene where sheer cliffs drop 3000 feet to the green Colorado River flowing below.

As I walk toward the unfenced overlook for a closer glimpse, I get an uneasy feeling, almost a vertigo that I am standing on the edge of the world. Once my senses begin to stabilize, I become aware of the profound silence that is interrupted only by the lonely drone of an occasional tour plane, or the faint scurry of tiny feet traveling through the cover of dry Bunch grass.

After locating a rock shelf that is sturdy enough to allow me to set up a shot that will frame the cliff’s wall extending out on the left, nearest to the viewfinder, and also include the Grand Canyon gorge with the Colorado flowing lazily below, I set the aperture at f/11, then expose the AGFA 50 ISO film at 1/60 a second.

I feel that this view of ubiquitous beauty deserves the quality of my Hassleblad camera and Ziess 40mm wide angles lens. No other equipment can portray the sharp detail and graphic design of the canyon in its entirety. From the crème-colored Kaibab limestone rim, to the Redwall limestone cliffs that extend down 600 feet to eventually give way to Bright Angel green shale slopes, ending with the dark brown Sandstone of the Inner Gorge just above the Colorado River.

As pleased as I am with the quality and detail of my photographic reproduction, it still can give only a two dimensional impression of Toroweep point. To fully experience Toroweep Point in its entirety and through all the senses as it deserves, one must make the rough solitary 60 mile drive, dodging cattle, bumping over rocks, and creeping through mud filled washes.

For more information you can follow these links below.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205100014.htm

http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/grand_canyon/north_rim.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Powell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River

http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_grasses.php

http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/geology/gc_layer.htm

http://www.hitthetrail.com/geology3.php

http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/coloradoplateau/lexicon/brightangel.htm

http://www.hitthetrail.com/geology5.php

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald.
For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request to the image.