No, it isn’t Mars. The picture you see above is an area called Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park just before sunrise. I recently had the opportunity to visit the park, and WOW… It really is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. It has a huge variety of scenery and sprawls across a huge area where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet. If you ever have a chance to go, I highly recommend it. All the photos and kit after the jump…
Luckily, Joshua Tree is the type of place you get from sight to sight by car, so I had the luxury of bringing lots of gear, and taking what I needed when we went for a hike at each location.
- Nikon D300
- Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8
- Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 Macro
- Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8
- Nikon 2x Extender
- Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer
- Canon 30D
- Canon 17-40mm f/4 L
- Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod
- Acratech Ultimate Ballhead
- LowePro CompuRover AW
On return from the shoot, I approached my workflow a bit differently in terms of processing using a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. After importing, sorting and filtering the nearly 700 images to a group of what I felt were my best shots, I did basic histogram adjustments in Lightroom, but then did the final retouching within Photoshop. I decided to do this mainly because I wanted to utilize the LAB color conversion method to really make the colors pop, as well as do some dodging and burning. I’ll post a bit more on both topics in the near future. And now for the photos:
Again, if you get the chance get to Joshua Tree. It’s definitely been one of my most fulfilling photo experiences to date. I’m pretty happy with the results, and as always I’d love to hear what you guys think.
Yup, one of my favorite places on earth - - I’m also a rock climber, and this is a mecca for that - some of the “stickiest” granite around…
Great photos!!
Cheers,
John
Incredible photos! I’ve never heard of Joshua Tree National Park until I saw these pictures. They make me want to visit every national park in the US - each one has something special to offer.
- Krishna
Awesome Pics!!!!
Wow man, I kinda wish I had taken you up on your offer to tag along. Looks like you got some really great stuff out of that trip. I just couldn’t bring myself to wake up early enough to get there before the sunrise!
Beautiful photos! Love the road, the lone tree and barker dam.
God job
Stellar pics!Barker Dam and The sun peaks over the horizon are my favs.
The shots are simply beautiful. I’ve never been there, but your making me want to go now! I especially enjoy the lone tree and road shots.
Wow, I was in JT last weekend! This is a great time to be out because it’s been so wet and all the little flowers are in bloom. Last time I saw this area so green was winter of 2004/2005, it certainly doesn’t look like this every year.
Great job!
JT is my favorite place to camp and hike. The pictures are awesome!! I particularly enjoy Jumbo Rocks to camp. My 10 year old son loves it, also. We will be going in about 3 weeks for a couple of days.