A remote area of Queen Valley in Joshua Tree National Park was the location for the next print of the month.  This towering spire defies the imagination.  Besides its imposing beauty, one wonders how it could possibly have formed.

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“… nature – unadulterated and unimproved by man – is simply chaos.” Edward Weston.

There’s no argument that Edward Weston was one of the finest photographers that ever tripped a shutter.  And one of the aspects of his photography that he is most revered for is his compositions.  He was the absolute master in his studio but when it came to photographing nature he admitted that it was the most difficult of all.  Why?  Because nature is chaos.

Nature is Chaos

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We wrapped up the 2010 Death Valley photography workshop this morning and most everyone is on their way home now.  The grand finale was photographing Telescope Peak from Bad Water.  How was it?  See for yourself.

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On the morning of day 3 of the Death Valley photography workshop, the weatherman called for rain and wind.  With that in mind we decided that Zabriskie Point would present the best opportunities for sunrise and hoped to get a few good black and white photographs of the badlands.  When we left for Zabriskie at 5:15 it was windy as anticipated.  But overhead it looked like a few stars were twinkling although it was hard to tell for sure in the dark night sky with the Stovepipe Wells Village parking lot lights shining in our eyes.

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Yesterday morning our photography workshop shot sunrise from Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley National Park.  One of the really fun aspects of sunrise out there is trying to arrive on site before the sky starts to get light.  In other words, we start heading out to the dunes while it’s still dark, very dark.  We strike out into the desert without being able to see our destination.  It can cause a bit of trepidation amongst the attendees.

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The days have gotten by and here’s the first posting from during the workshop.  So far, we’ve covered Zabriskie Point, Mesquite Dunes and Artist’s Palette.  I’ve spent way more time helping the attendees than shooting myself.  And virtually no time working on images.  But last night at Artist’s Palette I came away I came away with a couple of images that I’d like to share.

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The Death Valley photography workshop will officially kick off in a couple of hours.  But some of the attendees have already shown up and we’ve been out shooting last night and this morning.  It’s all been very informal.

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Originally uploaded by Ralph Nordstrom

The moods of Zabriskie Point often go unnoticed, unobserved. But it possesses a quite, intimate presence not visible in the glare of the desert sun. It only appears briefly in that magic time when day transitions into night. Then the moods briefly reveal themselves before night’s dark realm covers the land and the world rests.

Photographed during the 2009 Death Valley photography workshop.

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Originally uploaded by Ralph Nordstrom

I just added this to my website today. It is also on fllickr. I’m very happy with the way it turned out. It’s moody and I like it that way – have it as the wall paper on my laptop now.

It was photographed in February 2009 at last year’s Death Valley photography workshop.  This is a bit unusual for me in that it is a sunset image.  I normally like sunrise at Zabriskie Point so this is a departure and one I’m very pleased with.

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