Arizona Badlands at dusk resembling and endless ocean of waves.

Hidden in the desert back country is a wonderland of magnificently sculpted sandstone. The forces that shape these scenes are not overly complex, but are a long time coming. I love to imagine the various stages and shifts in these forces, knowing full well that what I see is only a single iteration and not a final product.

Focus stacked cactus light painting surrealism in the desert.

Recently wet sandstone strata reflect the fading light of a brilliant sunset high on a bench perched above a dramatic canyon system.

A yucca stands alone in a sea of gypsum sand. Diffused light filtered through particles of sand kicked up by high winds turns the world into a pastel painting.

Deep in the middle of nowhere lie intricate altars that seem not of this earth. This formation may take the cake as my favorite anywhere. There is no trail here and it is only attended by a few burrowing owls and crows, who took shifts trying to figure out what the hell I was doing.

Layers of colorful sandstone strata fan out on the side of a cliff in the Arizona wilderness. While these delicate rock layers have survived for millions of years, a single person could destroy this beauty with a single careless step.

A rare desert Vinegaroon ambles over an impossibly eroded landscape in the Nevada desert. These scorpion relatives squirt acid from there tails instead of stinging their adversaries. I followed this little guy over an insane sandstone obstacle course for about a half hour using absolutely the wrong lens for this kind of work before getting an image that was workable.

A desert throne emerges through the throngs of oddly shaped stone subjects.

Bisti Badlands, New Mexico (December 2017)

Central Utah, March 2019

They say you should avoid high ground when there is lightning nearby, so after the first clap I stayed in this small slot canyon. They also say you should not kick it in slot canyons if there is a chance of rain because of flash flood potential... I scouted my exit and stayed down here anyway.
This is the base of a dryfall that looks like a meteor hit it and dropped a few seeds. This is a dryfall that became a waterfall about 30 minutes after this was snapped.
I make light of this, but if you ever find yourself in this situation, just get out of the slot canyon. Flash floods are legit, hit insanely fast and, in 99.9% of situations the edge of a slot won't be a high point to get struck by lightning.

* Brought to you by- Safety tips from a big fool.

Utah, April 2019

When elements of sky (in this case radiating lines) mirror a foreground, you have either had a great stroke of meteorological luck, planned really well or are ignoring your true calling to be a weather person. This was 80% luck and a little planning.

I found what looked like the shadow of an arch on google maps, but second guessed whether such a thing could even be discerned accurately. Fortunately, this puppy looked to be only a mile or so from the nearest road and also was in the vicinity of some other cool stuff I was checking out. So out into the desert I went with hope in my heart and sand in my shoes.

Whenever I am pre-scouting locations using satellite imagery I form hypotheses about what I expect a given area to look like when I get there. The validity of what I envision matching the reality of what is there is hit or miss, but generally gets better the more time I spend "ground testing" my theories. While this case was a success story, there have been many cliffs, colorless dirt patches and dead shrub extravaganzas that I chalked up to exercise and education.

Post-storm clouds above a twisted scene of buttes, water pockets and upturned layers of rock.

…Or at least it seems Lavender. Cut the colorblind guy some slack.

San Rafael Swell, Utah (March 2018)

Painted Hills National Monument, Oregon (August 2017)

Death Valley National Park, California (March 2017)

Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada (May 2018)

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado (May 2018)

Hopi Lands, Arizona (December 2017)