This winter I have made a couple of trips to Joshua Tree National Park. During the first visit I spent my time in the lower or Colorado Desert part of the park. My second visit was spent in the upper or Mojave Desert area of the park.
On the first visit, a friend and I arrived, in an area that contains an abundance of Ocotillos, a little before sunrise. While the sun was still below the horizon, the sky lit up with some beautiful gold and pink colors. As always, click on any image to see a full size version of the photo.
Following sunrise, we spent some time photographing other desert scenes. It is not difficult to find subject matter to photograph in JTNP! Working clockwise around the gallery is first an Ocotillo standing tall against the blue sky. Then, a cholla cactus is backlit by the sun, while below it a snag contrasts nicely with the textures that surround it. The final two images are smoke trees. As their name implies, the foliage on these trees appear like clouds of smoke.
The lower part of the park is quite different from the upper levels of the park. As previously mentioned, the lower part is an extension of the Colorado Desert. A large part of this area of the park is fairly flat, surrounded by various mountains. One of the larger flat areas is the Pinto Basin at the base of Pinto Mountain.
In contrast, the upper part of the park, part of the Mojave Desert, is more mountainous with large “piles” of huge, unique looking, boulders. The famous Joshua Trees are only found in this part of the National Park.
Once again, we arrived before sunrise, to enjoy the pre-dawn colors in the sky. Post-sunrise, the sky bathed the park in warm golden colors.
My final images are several photos that I processed as Black and White.
Stay tuned for some of the wildflowers I photographed in the past month.
Wind At Your Back 
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