Index for Category - Stone Images

 This page last updated on 12/26/2017

Click on a Title to View Examples of Pareidolia - 2017 Desert Geologic Formations - 2016 Elephants in Stone Birds Head Stone Fright The Guardian Concretions Desert Trails Rockface

Examples of Pareidolia

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This page last updated on 07/01/2017

Pareidolia (pair-i-DOH-lee-ə) is a psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus, usually an image, by perceiving a familiar pattern where none exists (e.g., in random data). Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, the Man in the Moon, the Moon rabbit, etc. Over the course of the last 4-5 years of hiking, I have come across dozens of natural tree and rock formations that provide (to me) familiar patterns. Listed below are a few examples ...

Example 1: On the right side of the picture in (Fig. 01), I can visualize the profile of an Indian facing left. To me I can see an eye line, nose mouth, chin right down to the neck and an Adams apple. This picture was taken inside of the 'lower' canyon at Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona,

(Fig. 01)

Example 2: The natural rock structure in the collage in (Fig. 02) is the main focus of the "Duck Rock" hike in the Valley of Fire State Park. Even view from various angles, many think this rock looks much like the head of a duck. 

(Fig.. 02)

Example 3: Probably the most famous rock formation in the Valley of Fire State Park is "Elephant Rock". This huge formation of a standing elephant (Fig. 03) is the most visited formation in the park.

                                           

(Fig. 03)

Example 4: The section of ledge below, resembling the profile of a face is another prime example of what I mean.  This picture is of a natural overhang that was captured while walking past one of the hundreds of cliff houses I found on a visit to Walnut Canyon National Park. This natural cliff outcrop, worn by hundreds of years of natural erosion could only be seen at just the right angle. Hiking just below it, most people walked right on by and never noticed its natural beauty. 

(Fig. 04)

Click here to view more examples .... Index for Category - Unusual Pictures.

Elephants in Stone

Elephant Rock (Fig. 01), is a fine example of a sandstone arch in the shape of an elephant. It is billed as one of the highlights of the Valley of Fire State Park. Its overall shape is clearly visible, and is striking in it's resemblance to an elephant, complete with trunk. I titled this magnificent formation, “Red Bull”. Formed by weathering over hundreds, if not thousands of years, there is little doubt that it will one day collapse. As unique as this is, imagine my surprise when I located another one that I have never seen mentioned anywhere. While hiking around the Redstone Loop Trail at the Redstone Picnic Area on Lake Mead’s Northshore Road with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Senior Center, I captured yet another elephant (Fig. 02). Due to its much smaller size, it looks more like a baby elephant. I named this one “Baby Calf”. A few more of these sightings and I may have to retitle this page “elephant herd”. As many times as I have hiked some of these areas, I seem that I almost always find yet another formation that resembles a recognizable subject.

(Fig. 01)  Title - Red Bull

(Fig. 02) Title - Baby Calf

Birds Head

I found this specimen lying in a wash that I was hiking at Weiser Ridge, Nevada on 03/29/2012. Immediately the bright orange portion of the stone reminded me of a  birds head with a long beak. I know, it’s just my imagination going wild again.

Title – “Stone Fright”

On a drive thru the Valley of Fire State Park on 03/22/2012, I spotted this grouping of weather worn hole on a rock outcropping just outside the Visitor Center. Almost everywhere you look you in this park you find rock that is punctuated with holes. These holes are called “Wind Holes”. Over thousands of years the sandstone, weakened by weathering, often develops small pits which are then enlarged by the action of wind and water. As the moisture dissolves away the minerals that cement the sand grains together, winds whirl the loosened sand within the pit, literally sand-blasting the holes. Though it’s not Halloween yet, I thought the image above looked like a carved Halloween pumpkin. Connie was the one who came up with the name, “Stone Fright”.

Title – “The Guardian”

Even though I had previously published this image as a color photo, I was never happy with the blue cast that was present in the upper half of the image. I thought that converting it to a black and white not only solved this problem, but accentuated the rock face as well as making it look older.

On 10/15/2009 we visited the Walnut Canyon National Park. This 600-foot deep canyon, located on a densely-wooded plateau just 8 miles southeast of Flagstaff in the Coconio National Forest, was carved by the small seasonal stream called Walnut Creek as it flowed east, eventually joining the Little Colorado Rover en route to the Grand Canyon. The exposed Kaibab limestone that forms the upper third of the canyon walls occurs in various layers of slightly differing hardness, some of which have eroded more rapidly forming shallow alcoves; during the 12th to 13th centuries they were used by the local Sinagua Indians who constructed cave-dwellings along the steep well-protected ledges, high above the canyon floor. Just to get down to the level containing the dozens of cliff houses in this river canyon, one must first descend more than 225 feet. As I was taking the picture below, just off the pathway that passes in front of these ancient cliff houses, I looked up at the natural overhang that was part of the “ceiling” of the cliff house and the composition above came into view. By backing up just a few steps, I caught this angle which looked like the profile of a face, staring down into the canyon.this image. Worn by hundreds of years of natural erosion, it could only be seen by standing in just the right spot, at just the right angle; I was the only one who visualized it. Most people walked by just beneath it without ever noticing its unique beauty.