Creating the Image, Sunset Silhouette

From Mental Image to Photographic Print

While living in Las Vegas, I always appreciated the sunsets where the jagged form of a Joshua tree was in silhouette against the painted sky.  After I became a serious landscape photographer, I wanted to add to my collection of fire art prints a Joshua tree against a colorful sunset.  This was a real challenge because with sunsets you never know how long they will last.  Furthermore, unless the tree just happens to be growing in your yard, there is the problem of arriving on location and getting set up before the colors fade.

Each time that I drove out to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for photos, I would look for the appropriate Joshua tree to go in my sunset photo.  I wanted one that was mature with many well defined branches and tall enough to stand out against the sky.  Upon finally spotting the perfect tree, I then had to be ready to make the 14 mile (22.5 km) drive to get to the tree. 

After many failed attempts, late one afternoon I noticed cirrus clouds moving across the sky.  Arriving at my tree, I set the tripod low on the ground so that the branches would appear high up against the sky.  I then selected my widest lens, a Nikon 24mm 2.8.  I waited and as if on cue the clouds began to take on the brilliant colors of sunset.

While I was waiting, the words of Robindranath Tagore kept going through my thoughts:   "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." 

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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. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

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.

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Red Rock's Unique Eco-Systems

Part III, Flora and Fauna of Red Rock Canyon

 

Part I focused on an overview of Red Rock Canyon's inception from being under an ancient sea  600 million years ago to its present day Mojave Desert landscape. Part II explored Red Rock's aquifers with their unique micro-climates that contribute to and provide sustenance for a large variety of plants and animals that make their home in the Mojave Desert.

Part III combines Red Rock Canyon's topography with the micro-climates and the flora and fauna that are able to co-exist in the desert landscape.

Viewing Red Rock Canyon from the overlook gives the impression that you are about to enter a very unique environment with huge colorful Aztec Sandstone  formations and strange shaped trees set against the deep blue sky.  The trees are named Joshua Trees by the Mormon settlers for the Biblical Joshua and are native to the Mojave Desert, surviving for up to 200 years of age.

Joshua Trees provide shelter and habitats for many of the desert dwellers including the Cactus Wren that weaves her protective nest of grass safely within the sharp prongs, the Desert Tortoise that may dig shallow burrows in the sandy soil and the blacktail jack rabbit that escapes the desert heat in its shade.

                                                                                                       

Looking out at the desert floor, one might conclude that the soil is lifeless and uninhabitable, however the soil is full of microorganisms or Biological Crusts that are a vital part of the desert ecosystems. The more available water allows for a larger diversity in plants and animals supported by that ecosystem.  A symbiotic relationship exists between the land, water, plants and animals because in the desert all things are interconnected and interdependent.  In the spring and early summer, Evening Primrose grows profusely accenting the reddish sandy soil with white flowers at Calico Basin.

                                                                                               

So many of the mammals in  Red Rock Canyon area are nocturnal to avoid the strong daytime sun, however the antelope ground squirrel can be seen running across the desert soil at the hottest time of the day.  To cool off, this rodent will flatten its body against the soil in a shaded area.  Water lose is replenished by drinking early morning dew and feeding on green plants.

                                                                                             

The desert is often thought to be dry and without water, but in many of the sandstone layers there are natural  tinajas or catchments that hold water from rain or snowmelt.  Calico Basin Tank has water most of the year, providing a habitat for many different desert creatures including small insects, insect larvae and fairy shrimp. On a nearby rock a Collard Lizard waits for an insect and sometimes it is even possible to spot a Desert Bighorn Sheep on one of the steep rocky slopes coming down for an occasional drink.

 

The seasonal rains and snow storms bring an abundance of wildflowers to the canyons, desert floor and stream beds.  Some seeds remain dormant for up to 10 years before there is adequate precipitation to bring them to life.

                   
                                                               

       

 Redbud trees put on a visual display in the spring and may reach from 15 feet (4.6m) to 25 feet (7.62m), attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to the sweet nectar.

                                                                                      
              

 Springs flowing through the canyons of Red Rock provide micro-climates that promote lush vegetation.  Petroglyphs are found near where there is water and were once the camping sites of prehistoric people.  It is believed that the Anasazi hunted and gathered foods from the Red Rock Canyon Area.

                                                                                                           

In the shade by the stream at Pine Creek, North America's smallest hummingbird, the Calliope has built her nest on the branch of a willow.  A Gambel's Quail calls from the top branches of a Honey Mesquite tree while a brilliant blue Scrub Jay looks for seeds and berries on the ground below. 

                                                                                                                  

The harsh desert which goes from extremely high temperatures in the summer to freezing periods in the winter supports such a diverse ecosystem for its flora and fauna.    

                                                        

                                                                                                            

 

Gazing out across the landscape where I have spent so much time, I am always filled with a profound sense of awe for the fragile and delicate ecosystems that thrive and adapt in such harsh conditions.

                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
For More Information:

Desert Tortoise  

http://bonnierannald.blogspot.com/2009/05/life-in-desert.html

Desert Bighorn Sheep

 http://bonnierannald.blogspot.com/2010/11/desert-bighorn-sheep.html

Desert Plants

http://digital-desert.com/red-rock-canyon-nca/plant-communities.html

Desert Soil

http://mojavedesert.net/plants/biological-soil-crusts/

Hummingbirds

http://bonnierannald.blogspot.com/2010/08/fantasy-in-flight.html

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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. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

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.

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Roaming Free

WILD BURROS OF NEVADA

A hike in the desert along one of the many natural streams may reveal a group of wild burros quenching their thirst. Burros are curious by nature and most of the time, if they feel unthreatened, will pose for the camera with their heads high and long ears forward. However, on a few rare occasions, I have been warned by the burros not to come any closer. During a hike at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, I came upon a large group of at least 20 wild burros foraging in an ash grove. As I was preparing my camera, I noticed the herd come to attention and stand their ground, while several began to make snorting sounds. I slowly turned around and retreated to a different trail. I believe in allowing wildlife their territory and taking photos only when the animal is unaware or gives consent. When I’m tracking wildlife, I will use a long focal length lens, either a Nikon 80-200mm F/2.8, or a Nikon 500mm f/4.0. Both lenses allow animals to be photographed up close and personal without invading their space.

Wild burros are not indigenous to the southwestern desert, but are descendents of the African Wild Ass, which was introduced to the Americas in the 1500’s by the Spaniards. The present day wild burro has inhabited the area and thrived since the 1800’s when they were either turned loose or escaped from miners who used them as pack animals for gold and silver prospecting. The hardy, sure-footed modern day wild burro adapts well to the desert’s arid conditions where sources of digestible food are limited and water is even scarcer.

The ability to locate food in a barren terrain allows the wild burro to sustain its diet on dry foliage in the winter months. During the hot summers, when temperatures average 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the burros find shade along streambeds where vegetation is plentiful. If available, their preferred food sources include native grass, Mormon tea shrubs and Palo Verde leaves. A wild burro can experience a 30 percent loss of water, and then become rehydrated in as little as five minutes.

A wild female burro can give birth to one foal a year, after an eleven-month gestation period. Although birthing can occur anytime during the year, it happens most often from June to July. On average, a wild burro will grow to approximately 400 pounds, reach about half the size of a horse and have a life span of around 25 years.

Because of the low number of natural enemies, populations of burros in the wild have grown to around 10,000. A mountain lion is the only natural predator to mature wild burros, but coyotes have been known to prey on the immature, sick or those too old to defend themselves. Due to their increasing numbers, some agencies consider wild burros to be a nuisance and destructive to the fragile desert environment. Many wildlife biologists blame the wild burros for the decline in a number of native plants and animals, including the Bighorn Sheep.

Wild burros, along with wild horses, are protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. This act mandates the protection, management and control of wild, free-roaming burros and horses on public lands at population levels that ensure a thriving ecological balance. To keep the population in check, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) places wild burros up for adoption each year through the National Wild Horse and Burro Program.

For additional information, please visit the following links:
www.wildburrorescue.org/
www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/
www.digital-desert.com/wildlife/wild-burro.html

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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. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

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.

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Life in the Desert

THE DESERT TORTOISE

The Mojave Desert comes alive in the month of March, as ground temperatures rise. With increased sunlight, plants begin their new growth and soon the barren desert will be adorned with an artist’s palette of color. The warm days and abundance of wildlife entice me to take the top off my CJ7 Jeep and go out exploring for photos.

When I’m driving on dirt roads in the desert, I always keep careful watch for any creature that might also be sharing the trail. Desert tortoises come out from hibernation in March and are very active during the day, replenishing their diet on the new foliage. Unlike the smaller, faster reptiles, the large land-dwelling gopher tortoise moves slowly, as it ambles along. I have only encountered two desert tortoises in the wild, and both times they were traveling across the same road that I was using. To avoid causing them any harm, I stopped my vehicle at a distance, and took photos until they were clear of the road. In most cases, it is illegal to touch a desert tortoise, however if one is trying to cross a busy road, it may be moved out of harm’s way. The Department of the Interior Park Service recommends that a desert tortoise should be gently picked up and carried level to the ground. It should then be moved to the opposite side of the road, and placed in the same direction that it was heading.

A desert tortoise will spend most of its life underground in burrows that are dug in loose soil. The burrows are shallow and may extend from the tortoise’s shell to several feet in length. The shallowness of the burrows, combined with the loose consistency of soil makes them vulnerable to surface pressure. Walking or driving off established trails can be harmful to the tortoise’s habitat and may also damage the fragile desert ecosystem.

A mature desert tortoise can grow to a length of 9 to 15 inches, and some have been known to live up to 100 years; however 14 to 20 years is the average life span. This desert tortoise photographed by a crescent milk vetch plant was around 12 inches long.

Desert tortoises are not aquatic, but are terrestrial creatures of the Testudinidae family. They do not swim, or have webbed feet, and only go near water for drinking or bathing. Because they live in burrows, their limbs are designed for digging with well-developed claws on elephantine legs. An interesting fact about the desert tortoise is that it will dig a depression in the soil for rainwater to collect, where it patiently waits, sensing that it is going to rain.

The habitat of the desert tortoise is determined largely by the soil consistency in which it can burrow. A number of native plants and wildflowers that subsidize the tortoise’s diet in the spring also prefer lose, gravelly areas of the desert, and can be found along canyon bottoms or in desert washes. These plants include Locoweed, Hairy Lotus, Desert Dandelion, Rock Gilia, Desert Lupine, Blazing Stars and Globe mallow. The areas where the plants grow tend to receive additional moisture from spring monsoons in the form of run-off water. By eating the new moist foliage, the desert tortoise will also supplement most of its water intake for the coming year.

Since April 2, 1990, the desert tortoise has been under the protection of the Endangered Species Act; therefore it is a violation of federal law to touch, harm, harass or collect one. The desert tortoise was categorized as a threatened species after the population reached a 90 percent decline in the 1980’s. The main cause of this decline was urban development; followed by livestock grazing, off-road vehicles, and increases in the raven populations.

As an avenue for promoting good will and responsibility among public land users, the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association developed the Mojave Max Education Program. It is coordinated through the Bureau of Land Management, with Mojave Max, an actual living desert tortoise, as the logo and mascot.

Mojave Max was photographed at the Desert Tortoise Habitat opening ceremonies, in the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area Visitor’s Center.

For additional information, please visit the following links:

http://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/upload/Desert%20Tortoise.pdf

http://www.geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/tortoise1/

http://www.deserttortoise.gov/

www.tortoise-tracks.org/gopherus.html

www.deserttortoise.org/

www.tortoisegroup.org/

www.mojavemax.com/

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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. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

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.

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Kodak's Newest Film

Ektar 100

Kodak’s newest film, Ektar 100 is becoming a favorite among traditional photographers and in some opinions it exceeds all expectations. Made for 35mm cameras, Kodak promotes the Ektar 100 as the finest grain color negative film available, and through implementation of the Kodak Vision Motion Picture Film Technology, it produces ultra vivid, highly saturated colors. The only criticism I have found is that the film tends to give off a blue color cast when under exposed areas are in shade.

By emphasizing its enlargement capabilities when scanning and printing, Kodak is enticing the digital enthusiasts back to film. When I was shooting film, I was a fan of the Kodak Ektar 25 that was around in 1990’s. It was also fine grain and had great color saturation. Since it was a slow speed film, tripods were usually a must. This film did not make the cut, and was soon taken off the market. The biggest problem that I encountered with Ektar 25 was that most labs had difficulties with the color reproduction. I then changed over to AGFA 50, which became my film of choice for both 35mm and medium format. In my opinion, AGFA 50 was by far the best color film on the market. At 50 ISO, it was very fine grain, and had superior color reproduction with warm saturated colors. As proof of this statement, I had a 35mm negative enlarged to 30x40 inches. When comparing the larger print to the smaller size prints, the colors and resolution are equal. “Joshua Blooms at Red Rock” was taken on cloudy June afternoon, around 3:30pm. The camera was a Nikon 8008s with a Nikon 24mm 2.8 lens set at f/11 on a sturdy tripod, and the shutter speed was 1/15 a second.

Joshua Bloom at Red Rock, NV

Unfortunately, AGFA also discontinued production of AGFA 50 and their Optima II100 was promoted as the closest replacement to AGFA 50—which in my field testing did not even come close.

The question is, will I dust off my film cameras and give Kodak’s Ektar 100 a chance? Well, only if it is developed for medium format, because other than shooting with my Hassleblad and some of the AGFA 50 that I have on ice, I do not intend to return to negative film. The 35mm digital format more than satisfies my needs as a landscape/nature photographer, when I shoot in the RAW mode. The color accuracy, resolution and enlargement capabilities are more than adequate to reproduce my photographic images. Furthermore, there are no negatives with the potential for getting scratched or fragile with age. And, a big reason for not returning to film cameras is that I do not have to open the back of my camera after 36 exposures to change film. This has always been a worry to me, considering where I do most of my photography: outdoors, in the desert, around sand dunes, along creek beds, by waterfalls, often during rain, thunder and snow storms.

It is unfortunate that Kodak has only designed the Ektar 100 for 35mm cameras. Maybe if it is successful on the market, Kodak will make it available for medium format and then I will give it serious consideration.

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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. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

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.

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