Palm Springs Photos

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jacquesgt

jacquesgt

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A few photos from my trip to Palm Springs around the new year. Wildlife photography in that area is no joke! Birds are few and far between, mammals even rarer, and even in the middle of winter I went through a lot of water. Lots of respect to folks who specialize in desert photography!

This photo of a cactus wren in a cholla patch at Joshua Tree was my favorite shot of the trip. Worth the trip all on its own.

2024-01-19 22.54.53 - 2023-12-31 Joshua Tree 0036 - BCG.jpg
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A few other shots I really enjoyed included a cooper's hawk on California's only native palm tree at Murray Canyon, a phainopepla (such pretty birds but I couldn't get a killer composition because they like to perch up so high) and another cactus wren.

2024-01-19 22.50.19 - 2023-12-30 Murray Canyon 0033 - BCG.jpg
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2024-01-19 22.52.07 - 2023-12-31 Joshua Tree 0017 - BCG.jpg
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2024-01-19 22.54.11 - 2023-12-31 Joshua Tree 0023 - BCG.jpg
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Beautiful work... I love the simplicity of these photos as they reflect my favorite type of wildlife photography. I appreciate the minimalism and inclusion of habitat. There are very few of us who prefer to present a clean and compelling wildlife landscape than an in your face portrait.
I used to live in that area as an early teen in the 1970's. As a college kid, I did research with rodents on BLM land that is contiguous with JTree and the Mojave National Forest... while quite foreboding between mid-may to late September, it is a striking place to visit with more signs of animal and plant life than people expect.

regards,
bruce
 
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Wow! I love your shots especially the first one becasue it is not often one can see a bird on cactus! It is not often that one can see a cactus with a flower on it! ;-)
I love also the negative space - it shows the wide of the desert. And the colour combination adds to it.
(y)
 
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All lovely shots. The first shot is really splendid. Can't help but wonder what it would look like with the bright white part of the sky cropped out leaving only the blues and purples in the background.

All very nice shots, TFS.
 
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BLev65 said:
Beautiful work... I love the simplicity of these photos as they reflect my favorite type of wildlife photography. I appreciate the minimalism and inclusion of habitat. There are very few of us who prefer to present a clean and compelling wildlife landscape than an in your face portrait.
I used to live in that area as an early teen in the 1970's. As a college kid, I did research with rodents on BLM land that is contiguous with JTree and the Mojave National Forest... while quite foreboding between mid-may to late September, it is a striking place to visit with more signs of animal and plant life than people expect.

regards,
bruce
Click to expand...

Thank you!

I was really struck by the plant life in the desert. The relationships the species have with each other and with the landscape are so much more obvious in the desert given the smaller number of species in any given place and how aggressively they need to specialize. Very challenging photography, but very rewarding when I could put something together.
 
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ElenaH said:
Wow! I love your shots especially the first one becasue it is not often one can see a bird on cactus! It is not often that one can see a cactus with a flower on it! ;-)
I love also the negative space - it shows the wide of the desert. And the colour combination adds to it.
(y)
Click to expand...

Thank you! The colors in the desert are really something else.
 
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Platalea ajaja said:
All lovely shots. The first shot is really splendid. Can't help but wonder what it would look like with the bright white part of the sky cropped out leaving only the blues and purples in the background.

All very nice shots, TFS.
Click to expand...

Thanks. For sure, I definitely wished for something better in the sky. I'll have to visit again at some point and try a few different days to see if I can get more interesting light. I really wanted to show the landscape though because the topography is so integral to life in the desert. There wouldn't be a cholla stand there without nearby hills to funnel water down into a concentrated area.
 
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