Transitions
The smooth lines and soft tones of the Mesquite Sand Dunes just after sunset.
Zabriskie Dawn
Manly Beacon at Zabriskie Point before sunrise with the moon setting over the mountains.
Big Texas
6 stitch panoramic during a jaw-dropping sunset at the top of Lost Mines Trail.
Desert Gold
Sunrise at Balanced Rock.
Fire On High
A fiery sunset over the mountains of the Mesquite sand dunes.
King of Sands
Sunset on the Mesquite Dunes of Death Valley.
Swept
Mesquite Sand Dunes of Death Valley... Incredible lines, textures and compositions in every direction. Had some interesting patchy light here around sunset. Love how quickly the dunes change color and how the light plays on every little wind carved line.
Silver Lining
A few hours after sunset on the peaceful Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes of Death Valley. A perfect night under the stars as color of the dunes cool down.
Interstellar
A 30 second exposure and a light-painted Balanced Rock, in Big Bed.
Rio Grande
A colorful sunset over the Rio Grande—the border between Texas and Mexico.
Dunes & Blooms
Buchanan_Dunes_and_blooms_Death_Valley
Sunbomb
The best sunset I've ever seen.
Palette
Other worldly patterns and textures in remote parts of Arizona at night.
Moonwalk
The White Pocket Wilderness in Northern Arizona. Some of the most interesting terrain I've ever set foot on and not easy to get to either taking a couple hours from the nearest town down very rough sandy back roads. They say these rocks are petrified sand dunes which I can see with some of the incredible layered patterns everywhere. A dark night at the amazing White Pocket allowed for some headlamp light action and great Milky Way views. The landscape and textures here are incredible and lighting up the foreground at night seemed only to enhance it. Like another planet. I could've spent a week here.
White Fire
Desert Candy
Zabriskie Morning
Mud Fang
DUNESDAY
I’ve shot in difficult conditions before but this day was a whole different ballgame. Sitting in our car, we were debating on if we should even head out into this monstrous glowing cloud of sand that had completely engulfed the Mesquite dunes of Death Valley. You couldn’t see a thing. Of course, lacking any sort of suitable gear for constant 40+ mph winds, I pulled my buff over my entire face and put my sunglasses on and wrapped my camera in my plastic rain sleeve and went for it. WOW, not only was I mostly blind from my homemade facemask, the blowing sand and deafening wind was absolutely nuts. We must have looked like blind zombies roaming out into the dunes. It was slow going and we couldn’t hear each other at all. A few times we’d walk into dip in the dune that funneled all the wind right through it and we’d have to turn back. I can’t even guess how fast that wind was. I laughed at the thought of trying to set up my tripod so I just turned into the wind and started firing away with my 70-200mm. Interestingly, the wind was so powerful it had carved up the dunes and you can see some of the deep cuts revealing the deeper wet patterns in the sand from the rains weeks before. In no time the sun crept behind the mountains thanks to our speedy arrival. Literally choking on sand at this point, we headed back. It took a week to get the sand out of our eyes and teeth and lungs. It gave me a weird sinus sound to my voice which was a nice touch. Just the experience alone makes it one of the more memorable photo ops I’ve ever had.
Earth Angel
Do you see her? Her golden profile, center frame with her head tilted down. The walls on both sides lit like her wings? I saw this almost immediately when I walked through this section of the lesser known Canyon X in Page, Arizona. It was all about the timing too with how the lighting fell on this scene. As my first slot canyon experience I immediately fell in love with the colors, light and textures here. Such a unique and surreal place. Got a chance to play around with some light beams and abstract shots here too—and the best part—had the place all to ourselves.
Superstitions
Nice blooms out in the Superstition Mountains looking at Three Sisters formation.
Fortress
The peaceful and surreal Superstition Mountains and desert landscape. With the very subtle light from the city of Phoenix casting across the face of Three Sisters and the tall giant cacti peppering the landscape, there's something very special about this place!
Colors on the Brain
Morning tones across the brain rock patterns of White Pocket. Even here life springs up out of nowhere.
Into The Hills
The unique rock formations of the Alabama Hills at sunset with moonrise.
Swoosh
There's nothing quite like how the light plays on the dunes, from the little wind blown lines to the large swooping dune curves. A nice black and white treatment can really bring out these lines and textures. With my camera on a timer, I climbed around the backside of the dune and into position.
Candyland
The Badlands of New Mexico are more like The Candylands with chocolate hoodoos and marshmallow rivers all topped with multi colored chocolate chips — the geology here is really interesting. At sunset I climbed up to one of the higher points to scope out my surroundings. Here I positioned myself so the hoodoo foreground would lead up the riverbed to the giant candy corn on the horizon.
Lost
Some places you just can’t put into words. And this was one of those places... Painted hills and ancient petrified forests with hidden chambers of 14’ high hoodoos. Here my friend went exploring, and I went flying. From above this landscape becomes even more spectacular. We had some dramatic cloud cover as well which really completed our surreal experience out here in the badlands.
Bows and Arrows
Morning light falls on the rock patterns of a unique Utah landscape. The colors and striations here are other worldly. This arrowhead pattern caught my eye, leading to the first light on the triangles of the range. A bow of clouds hangs above while minutes later rainbows faintly formed on the horizon. An incredible morning at an incredible place.
Cradle
Some places just blow your mind with scale and beauty. This is one of them. A 3000’ sheer drop down to the Colorado river at the Toroweap overlook - a remote area of the North Rim. Over 60 miles of off roading brought us to this special place. Had a great evening of passing storms, rainbows and lightning. Just us and the rattlesnakes.
Landshark
An absolute blaze over Boot Arch. Amazing and interesting landscape out here in the Alabama Hills of California.
Nomad
Deviled Eggs
Morning sunrise on broil as the morning light begins to shine on these ancient eggs.
Forged
The other worldly landscapes found in the Badlands of New Mexico under an amazing sunset sky.
Outsidelands
Soft colors of a sunset in the Southwest.
Cosmic
Perched
An small, intimate scene at the grandest of locations.
Beam Me Up
Underworld
Amazing erosion zone of patterns and leading lines found in the badlands of New Mexico. Here, I wandered into this scene as the sun's first light hit some hoodoos in the distance with some dramatic skies.
Scorched
A colorful burn over the badlands of New Mexico. Amazing hoodoo worlds provide endless photographic options. A processing challenge here with the range of color tones - the warmth of the sunlight hitting the rocks and the cool shaded areas.
Journey
I am thankful to be able to make it out to these remote locations. It’s almost always worth the journey when you get to have moments like this to yourself to reflect. Here at Toroweap, when you're standing on a 3000' ledge overlooking the Colorado River, you can't help but feel the power of nature. At this time of year, the sun aligns with the river at sunrise. An incredible place.
Vortex
Movement set in stone. The incredible textures, patterns and colors emerge when the right light is in play.
Labyrinth
Just before sunset presents a whole new color palette across the badlands.
Ready for Launch
Desert Flames
Breaking Dawn
