Ken's Photo Gallery: 2012 - Year In Review

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Over the past couple of weeks, I've been reviewing some of the pictures I captured over the past year on my various hiking excursions with the rock-hounds from Henderson’s Heritage Park Senior Facility and my friend Harvey Smith. Because not all of my hikes are with the rock-hounds, who only hike in Nevada, some of these pictures were taken in northern Arizona and around some areas surrounding Lake Tahoe. As I began culling my way through hundreds of folders and more than two thousand photos, I started think about how I might put together a page to share some of the better or more interesting captures. First, I decided to group them into roughly a dozen basic categories, e.g. flowers, landscapes, petroglyphs, etc. Then, in order to conserve space, I thought about using a combination of collages, triptychs and single posts that would allow me to place more of them onto a single page. This caused me to “dust off” and re-familiarize myself with a program called FotoFusion, that I haven’t used in years. I then began a process of resizing and cropping many of them down to make them more suitable for placement into a series of collages that would best showcase them. Between each of the collages I have interspersed photos of picturesque settings and landscapes, as well as triptychs that sometimes better tell the story of particular subject or place. The end result is a compilation of more than 260 photos - hope you enjoy.

Desert Foliage Collage 01

Desert Foliage: The first grouping I put together was of various desert plants and flowers that I had captured while hiking the more than forty plus locations that I visited over the course this past year. Though not always easy, and not always successful, I always make an effort on each of my hikes to find some kind of color, whether it be in the form of rock formations, trees, cactus, plants or flowers to “spruce up” the photo essays that I create and post on this site for each hike. I’m sure that those of you who are not part of my hiking group find it hard to believe that in the harsh environment of the dry and arid Nevada desert, one can even find anything growing at all, let alone things that offer such a variety of color. Interspersed throughout this post you will find five collages such as the one above, each containing a wide variety of desert plants, flowers, cacti, and wildflowers.

Rogers Spring - Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Desert Wildlife Collage 01

Desert Wildlife: Over the course of the year, my hikes have taken me anywhere from the low desert and its alluvial plains to high mountain ridges and plateaus. Each of these areas provides its own unique opportunities to spot wildlife indigenous to the that area. The problem is trying to capture some of them. First, there is the fact that because most of my hikes are with a group, there is often more noise than I would like. Next there is the matter of having the right lens attached (wide angle vs telephoto) when a opportunity presents itself. Finally there is the subject itself. Many of these animals and insects are quite skittish when it comes to humans, and quite speedy. Over the course of the year I’ve spotted many forms of wildlife, such as foxes, coyotes, long-eared jackrabbits, numerous birds, etc., that are just “gone” before I even get the chance to focus on them. Then there are the typical problems of not having enough lighting, too slow of a lens, lack of a tripod, etc. all which often lead to poor photo quality. Even when I am lucky enough to get off a shot, it is often too blurry or out of focus. So, when I do get pictures such as those in the collage above, that are worth viewing, I consider myself quite lucky. In addition to the triptych below, you will find one more wildlife collage further down.

Wild Horses at Cold Creek Nevada

Harvey Overlooking Goodsprings Valley

Rock Art Collage 01

Desert Rock Art: Many of the sights that we visit are actually noted for providing the opportunity to view desert art in the form of petroglyphs and pictographs left by native inhabitant's hundreds if not thousands of years ago. Quite often they are worn or deteriorated due to weathering and aging, and sometimes even defaced by persons who have no idea of their historical significance. Even though many times these ancient etchings appear cryptic and quite confusing, there are also many times when they offer recognizable figures that appear to be trying to tell a story. I find them all quite fascinating. The collage above is one of two that can be found in this post.

Harvey Atop Cherum Peak in Arizona

Nevada Mine Collage 01

Nevada’s Mines: Still today, the state of Nevada is the largest producer of gold in the country. At times over the last 150 years, it was also the largest producer of lead, zinc and silver, leaving literally hundreds of deserted and abandoned mine shafts and audits scattered all over its many mountain ranges. Though we often find what appear to be the small diggings by individual prospectors, many of locations we have visited were actual mining towns and processing plants that supported upwards of 2,000 people in their heyday. Over the years some of these mines produced more than a $200 million dollars worth of gold and silver. Many times they are fenced or “barred” preventing entry due to unsafe conditions. For the ones that are open, knowing the inherent dangers, we try to limit our exploration to within only a few feet of their entrances. The collage above is one of two that can be found in this post.

Harvey at Cathedral Gorge State Park

Tree & Wood Collage 01

Trees and Other Wood Textures: For some reason I just love capturing the shapes, textures and patterns found in trees, bark, roots, stumps and wood. Not only do their unique texture and patterns offer interesting and visually pleasing subjects, they cause one to relieve their history by letting your mind travel back in time to their origin, which in the case of some bristle cone pines, can be more than 4,000 years. The collage above is one of three that can be found in this post.

Tom Walking in Spring Valley - Inside Red Rock National Conservation Area

Relics From the Past Collage 01

Relics From The Past: Over the course of the year I visited several old mining ghost towns (such as Delamar NV) as well as a few (like Goodsprings, Goldfield, Tonapar and Pioche NV and Chloride AZ) with mining histories that go back more than 150 years that are still trying to hang on. Each of these locations offers many old mines, ruins, historic buildings and sites that provide for some very interesting exploration. The collage above is one of two that can be found in this post.

View from Red Springs at Calico Basin

Rock and Lichen Collage 01

Rocks and Lichen: Though the group I hike with is called “the rock-hounds”, and my main interest is taking photographs, it doesn’t preclude me from having an interest in geology, surrounding rock formations and from collecting an occasional rock or two. Lichens, a combination of two organisms, fungal filaments and algal cells, which live and grow together on rocks, living bark, dead wood and animal bones that can survive extremes of heat, cold, and drought in the harshest of environments, have always interested me. I find their infinite variety and wide range of shapes and color fascinating. Besides seeing beautifully colored rock formations, on rare occasions I have even been lucky enough to find some fossil specimens of shells and evidence of seabed's (below) that provide great geological interest.

Desert Water Collage 01

Desert Water: This was the last collage category I put together. As I’m sure many of you are aware, we are going through our 10th year of a long-term drought, making it harder and harder to find evidence of water in the lower desert and plateau areas. This has also had a devastating effect on animal and plant life. Up until the end of June this past year, we had only received 0.27 inches of rain. Even though the late summer/early fall monsoons brought us nearly three inches of rain, because everything is so hard and dry, it quickly runs off, having very little long term effect. One of my hiking partners jokes about the fact that, if there is water to be found on a hike, I can find it. Though some of the places we visit are know for “natural springs”, there seems to be less and less water visible each time we visit. Many of the washes we hike that used to provide signs of water almost year-round are dry most of the year, only showing signs of water in the early spring months or the day after a heavy rain.