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Joshua Tree

Photographs of Southern California’s Spring Wildflowers — the 2017 Super Bloom CarlsbadDesertJoshua TreeSan DiegoThe American SouthwestWildflowers

Photographs of Southern California’s Spring Wildflowers — the 2017 Super Bloom

During March and early April of this year I was chasing the wildflower bloom around the southernmost parts of California. The wildflower bloom was indeed spectacular and went on for weeks with vast displays of color. Was it a "super bloom"? I'm not sure. Somewhere during March the interwebs began…
July 16, 2017
Blood Red Moon Madness! A Tetrad of Total Lunar Eclipses Astrophotography and Night ScapesCaliforniaJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Blood Red Moon Madness! A Tetrad of Total Lunar Eclipses

Lunar eclipse sequence, showing total eclipse (left) through full moon (right). While the moon lies in the full shadow of the earth (umbra) it receives only faint, red-tinged light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. As the moon passes into the penumbra it receives increasing amounts of direct sunlight, eventually leaving…
December 23, 2015
Perseid Meteor Shower over Joshua Tree National Park, August 2015 Astrophotography and Night ScapesCaliforniaDesertJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Perseid Meteor Shower over Joshua Tree National Park, August 2015

Each August the Perseid meteor shower takes place. This year it peaked during a new moon, which offered prime conditions for seeing many meteors. I photographed the Perseid meteor shower in Joshua Tree National Park using two compositions/locations: with Arch Rock as one feature and with a single joshua tree…
August 16, 2015
Perseid Meteor Shower over Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, 2015 Astrophotography and Night ScapesCaliforniaDesertJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Perseid Meteor Shower over Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, 2015

The Perseid meteor shower occurs each August, peaking on the evenings of August 12 and 13. It happens because the Earth is plowing through the trail of dust left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseid meteors are named for the constellation Perseus in the northern sky, from which the meteors…
August 14, 2015
Lunar Eclipse Sequence, Juniper and Standing Rock, Joshua Tree, 2014 Astrophotography and Night ScapesDesertJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Lunar Eclipse Sequence, Juniper and Standing Rock, Joshua Tree, 2014

For the eclipse of April 14/15, 2014, I wanted to depict the course of the eclipse across the sky with some recognizable landscape features in the foreground to anchor the composition. As the day of the eclipse went by, I watched the weather reports and decided Joshua Tree National Park…
June 9, 2014
Lunar Eclipse Sequence over Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, April 2014 Astrophotography and Night ScapesDesertJoshua TreePanoramasThe American Southwest

Lunar Eclipse Sequence over Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, April 2014

The lunar eclipse of April 14 and 15, 2014 was a wonderful event to see. I went up to Joshua Tree National Park to photograph it for two reasons. First, the weather forecast in the high desert was for clear skies and, for the most part, the skies were indeed…
April 29, 2014
Lunar Eclipse Blood Red Moon Sequence over Joshua Tree National Park Astrophotography and Night ScapesDesertJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Lunar Eclipse Blood Red Moon Sequence over Joshua Tree National Park

This is the first of my photographic efforts shooting the lunar eclipse the evening of April 14/15 2014. I spent the entire night out under the stars in Joshua Tree National Park, where I often shoot when looking for clear skies and stars at night. I photographed several compositions and…
April 17, 2014
Venus, Milky Way and Arch Rock at Astronomical Twilight, Joshua Tree National Park Astrophotography and Night ScapesJoshua TreeThe American Southwest

Venus, Milky Way and Arch Rock at Astronomical Twilight, Joshua Tree National Park

Things are always better at astronomical twilight. Venus was often referred to as the “Morning Star” by ancient civilizations (and as the “Evening Star” as well). On this day, it was indeed the morning star, rising just moments before astronomical twilight began. This allowed for a very brief window of…
April 11, 2014
Milky Way and Moon at Night, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Panorama, Joshua Tree National Park Astrophotography and Night ScapesJoshua TreePanoramasThe American Southwest

Milky Way and Moon at Night, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Panorama, Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn. This panorama of Joshua Tree National Park was made at astronomical twilight during International Dark Sky Week recently (last week). Some slight blue color from the impending dawn appears behind and to the left of the…
April 18, 2013
Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice: Giants Marbles at Dusk, Joshua Tree National Park, California Joshua TreeThe American Southwest

Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice: Giants Marbles at Dusk, Joshua Tree National Park, California

Giant's Marbles, Joshua Tree National Park, California. This is the second of three images I had that were Highly Commended in this year's Windland Smith Rice photography competition.* I made this photograph in Joshua Tree National Park just as the sun was setting, at a series of granite boulders that…
December 5, 2011