Joshua Tree Reflections And Abstracts

Joshua Tree Reflections And Abstracts

I awoke this morning and was catching up on the news when I spotted a story indicating there would be full moon this evening and that it would visually be the largest of the year.  I packed my gear and drove the two and a half hour drive to one of my favorite places, Joshua Tree National Park.   Along with the full moon,  I was hoping that with all the recent rains in Southern California the lake behind Barker Dam would have a good amount of water in it.

With the lake almost full and very little wind, I thought I might try to create some interesting abstract reflections where it takes the viewer a few moments to figure out exactly what is in the photograph.  At first glance, it may look like some sort of aquatic animal, but it is indeed, just a rock.

For these two photos, I noticed that the sun was almost ninety degrees from my point of view, perfect for getting the maximum impact from a polarizing filter.
	The left side photo uses some polarization so the parts of the tree under the water are visible. The right side uses a bit less so that the reflected clouds are more visible.

 

Finally, the moonrise. I was searching for a Joshua Tree with about fifty yards of clear view so I could use my Nikon 80-400 Zoom to magnify the moon with a Joshua tree in silhouette. The cloudy horizon required a lot of patience and moving around to find an interesting composition, but the moon finally poked through the clouds and provided an eerie moment.

Comments

[anastazja]

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