Nature Photo Journal #13

In 4th Grade I traveled to Organ Pipe with a Desert Studies class I was lucky to be a part of as my sense of adventure and environmental exploration bloomed. Captivated by the Organ Pipes, the landscape has stayed strong in my memory for more than 25 years. I was glad to be able to bring Brennan here on my third trip, (amazing how a place you have only been to a couple of times can stick with you), and see her same awe of the cactus and the vastness.

But capturing the beauty and essence of these particular cactus certainly challenged my novice photography pursuits. I found demonstrating the joy of the walk we took, the same one I took with my class decades ago, to be near impossible to find in an image. Sometimes it’s just about the experience.

People tend to love mountains and oceans with ease, the masses flock there for good reason. The desert seems to take a longer courting. But I was born there, and those horizons and landscapes are in my blood.

And the desert keeps giving, because as you look down from the expanse, the eye is filled with wonder at the nuance, the textures, and the loveliness of subtlety.

Then there is dusk. The quality of light seeping through hills, changing the feel of the exact same place, altering the way we see.