Russ | Russ Bishop Photography | Nature Photo Blog

July 10, 2017July 11, 2017

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park in the southern California high desert east of Palm Springs is an exotic arid playground that stimulates the imagination and rejuvenates the spirit.

As a world-class rock climbing mecca, its multitude of quality climbs and ideal off-season temperatures attract athletes from around the globe. And then there’s the landscape – a surreal mix of granite boulders strewn across the park like a giant’s marbles, and the namesake Joshua Trees with their whimsical spiny branches that conjure images of Dr. Seuss characters. From a photographic standpoint it’s a paradise of grand proportions, and when the sun goes down the night sky puts on a show of its own.

At the junction of two ecosystems, Joshua Tree National Park is host to both the Mojave Desert to the north in the higher elevations, and the Colorado Desert to the south. The Joshua Trees thrive in the slightly cooler Mojave Desert in the western part of the park, while the lower Colorado portion plays host to a multitude of spring wildflowers, a cholla cactus garden and the lush Cottonwood oasis near the southern entrance.

Summer temperatures can be unbearably hot, but the rest of the year is ideal for photography, climbing, hiking or just soaking up the visual experience in this otherworldly landscape.

January 12, 2017July 12, 2018

That Extra Something

Mount Rushmore and fall color, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

I always strive to find the unique angle or foreground subject in my landscape and travel photography, and most of the time this is simply a matter of scouting the location before the sweet light arrives to find that special element. But sometimes the options are limited and even the subject itself has really only one angle. Mount Rushmore is a classic example.

The sculpture created by Gutzon Borglum in the 1930s is an icon of Americana, and has probably been photographed more times than Old Faithful or Yosemite Falls. Of course I too had to capture my version, but with limited access to the monument my choice of lens was about the only option. Tight telephoto images are captivating and show the skill and detail that went into Borglum’s creation, but in the end it was a simple splash of fall color and a wide field of view that captured the essence of what I felt and gave the image that extra something.

So the next time you find your vision is hampered by the limitations of your surroundings go long or go wide, but try to include something unique within the frame that imparts a sense of time or place – and sets your image apart from the crowd.

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016

The Sky’s the Limit

Digital photography offers many benefits over the old days of film, but one area where the new technology falls short is the constant need for power. Manual film cameras like the classic Nikon FM and FE2 could be used with no battery at all, but today’s hi-tech devices are just fancy paperweights without a battery. I’m often asked how I manage this challenge when traveling in the wilderness and the answer is the sun!

In addition to bringing a good supply of fully charged lithium-ion batteries (which perform remarkably well in the cold) I have a solar panel made by Brunton that rolls up into a small tube and cranks out a powerful 14 watts. That’s enough juice to power a laptop or sat phone and will even charge batteries on overcast days. So with an unlimited source of power and several large capacity memory cards the sky really is the limit when shooting in the backcountry.