Yosemite and More

 I went to Death Valley last week. My first stop was the Mesquite Dunes. I was there a few years ago and decided to 'try' and take a little different approach. At the Dunes there  are large iconic dunes and many smaller ones. I decided to focus more on the smaller and less trodden items (mostly) this time. The varied light seemed to change the color of the sand. Of course my first photo is of the larger dunes. Taken at sunset. I like the shadows but also how the dunes seem to mimic the hills in the background. There are actually a lot more plants than you might expect among the sand dunes. Not all make it. I changed this one to black and white, because I like it. Even with the dunes in shadow the landscape is far from featureless. The wind has great effect on the sand. Smoothing, rippling and moving the dunes. A lot depends on which direction it's blowing. The textures can vary greatly. To the right of the larger dunes a a series of much smaller and less visited dunes.   ...

Hope you like the new layout. Let me know in comments! I took a short vacation to Death Valley a few days back. As with most places, while I'd seen photos of the park, in person it was much more beautiful and interesting. If you're a Star Wars fan you might recognize some of the features. If not I hope I've  at least given you the desire to go for yourself. But go pretty soon. It gets just a little hot during the summer.  Here are some photos from the very first place I stopped. I came into the park just after a heavy rainfall, in fact I timed it just right as snow had closed some of the passes and in some areas the roads were still partly flooded. I was luck that it was a Thursday, not too many tourists, though the sand still showed footprints where the rain had not completely washed them away. The evening sun added some nice shadows and some color as well. A little closer view. Depending on the direction of the sun,...