Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree

The southwestern desert requires an attention to detail. What it lacks in grandeur that you see in the Colorado Plateau area or mountains, it makes up in picturesque colors and compositions that you have to look closely to appreciate. There’s nothing like taking a hike deep into the Mojave back country and perching yourself on a rock while the sun sets. The colors are spectacular.

In one of my journal posts I mentioned the color scheme of the desert and I think this picture illustrates it perfectly. At a certain elevation, you get a desert landscape filled with vegetation.

The Kelso Sand Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve. These sand dunes cover 45 square miles! They were formed over the last 25,000 years by winds kicking up desert sands.

The tan works perfectly against the desert colors.

Lexie shooting an Old Navy spread

Vintage van camping up at Garth’s Place. The sunset created some incredible lighting. It started out orange and slowly mixed in some light purple.

Sunrise at Garth’s Place

Another sunrise shot. The thing you’re looking at is basically a 3-D star made for acoustics (or something like that). Typically, speakers are played under the floor and in specific spots for optimal sound and vibration. Unfortunately the batteries weren’t inside so we couldn’t test. Looks awesome though.

The sunrise continued to impress.