2023

2023 had its moments. There were moments of celebration, since this year marked mine and Caroline's ten year wedding anniversary (and what a great ten years it's been!). There were moments of difficulty, like the time spent potty training (our toddler, not me). And then there were some scary moments, like when the EF-3 tornado cut a path through our neighborhood in March.

But when possible, I tried to find a few moments to take some pictures. So here’s a little collection of my favorite photos from the last year…

#25:

December 13: Artists Palette, Death Valley National Park, California
Death Valley was such an interesting place to visit. The landscape there is so bizarre and beautiful. And for a place that is almost entirely all rocks and sand, it can be so colorful and vibrant. Especially at Artists Palette, where it looks like a giant spilled a bunch of paint all over the mountain.

#24:

October 28: Mt. Nebo State Park, Arkansas
2023 turned out to be a great year for fall colors in Arkansas. The fog was too thick to see anything from the overlooks on Mt. Nebo that day, but the bright colors on this tree shined through the mist like a lighthouse.

#23:

November 9: Keo, Arkansas
Another great thing about the fall colors this year is that the trees seemed to hold onto their colorful leaves for a long time. This shot was taken on a rainy day in November, when it's nice to visit oxbow lakes like this and not have to worry too much about snakes or mosquitoes.

#22:

June 19: Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock
The art museum reopened this year after a massive renovation, and one of the new features was this "living room" space that extends out over the entrance. From inside, you can get drinks while enjoying the view of MacArthur Park from the massive windows. In this shot, the infrared camera somehow turned those windows into mirrors that reflected back the park grounds.

#21:

December 12: Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California
Being in Death Valley definitely feels like being on another planet (which explains why so much of Star Wars was filmed there). No place felt more strange and alien than the Devils Golfcourse, a massive stretch of salt crystal formations that have eroded into sharp and jagged spires.

#20:

April 28: Near Eureka Springs, Arkansas
I was driving up to Eureka Springs and saw this barn and immediately stopped the car to get a few pictures. I wasn't sure if the barn had been abandoned. The house next door to it certainly looked like it had been - it was quiet and seemed empty. What wasn't quiet was the cacophony of clucking that came from the chickenhouse in the nearby field.

#19:

April 23: Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like this old house will be around for much longer. Last year, part of the balcony roof collapsed. It will be sad when it's gone.

#18:

December 12: Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California
One thing you don't expect to see in Death Valley is water. But a hurricane passed over the park and dumped a record amount of rain, enough to create an ephemeral lake in Badwater Basin that we were lucky enough to catch before it evaporates away. The lake is only a few inches deep, but it did a great job reflecting the colors of a sunset one evening.

#17:

November 20: Big Dam Bridge, North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Big Dam Bridge is always a fun place to go to take pictures, especially on really foggy nights. The bright LED lights on the bridge were reflected back in the fog, which on this night was so thick that it obscured the far end of the bridge.

#16:

March 19: Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana
This shot was taken on a Sunday night, has dusk settled in over the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. It had been really busy that weekend in the French Quarter (it was Spring Break, after all), and there were crowds everywhere we went. But that evening, it was unusually quiet at this spot. The only other people around were a few other tourists who would walk up here while eating their beignets from Cade Du Monde, and some ghost-tour groups sharing spooky stories about Jackson Square.

#15:

October 27: Shores Lake, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The water in the lake was so still that the reflection looked like a mirror image of the trees and fog that lined the shores of Shores Lake. This was taken at the end of a great day spent in the Ozarks.

#14:

October 27: Yale Church, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
This is a neat old church, which sits right by the scenic Mulberry River. We stopped by here, and then drove to Oark and treated ourselves to some burgers from the Oark Cafe.

#13:

March 24: New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Estill, Mississippi
This beautiful old church in the Mississippi Delta was built in 1918. I've been wanting to visit it for years, and it just so happened that we would drive right by it on our way back home from the Gulf Coast. The dark clouds behind the church were ominous, a few hours later this area would be hit by a really bad tornado.

#12:

September 12: Hawthicket Church, Faulkner County, Arkansas
By the time enough funds were raised to build this church, almost all of the congregation had transitioned to the nearby cemetery. So no services were ever actually held here, and it has been empty and abandoned for decades.

#11:

October 28: White Rock Mountain, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The plan was to camp overnight at White Rock Mountain, with the goal of getting some good fall color pictures from the overlooks in the morning. But it was so foggy on the mountain that there was no view from the overlooks, so had to settle for taking lots of pictures of foggy roads instead.

#10:

December 11: Golden Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California
The hike through Golden Canyon is one of the most popular hikes in Death Valley, but it was never all that crowded while we were there. We did see a few other hikers, but we mostly had the trail to ourselves. Well except for the time a coyote trotted down the canyon right by us, then turned and went up to some rocks and seemed to pose for a few minutes while we snapped a bunch of pictures. He scurried off a few minutes later, I'm guessing to find his order of ACME products.

#9:

December 11: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California
This was taken just after sunrise, when it was about 40 degrees outside. I can't imagine what it's like to visit here in the summer when it would be about 120 degrees here.

#8:

July 6: Centennial Baptist Church, Helena-West Helena, Arkansas
This church was one building I desperately tried to get access to over the last few years while working on my Delta photography project. But the building was partially destroyed by a storm, and the ruins now sit behind a tall fence. I had to hold the camera up over the fence to get these shots, with a slim hope that some of them might turn out ok. It's a beautiful old church still, despite the damage. Hopefully it can be saved and restored some day. 

#7:

December 12: Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California
The hardest part about taking photos here was finding a composition that didn't have any footprints in it. While walking across the dunes I was annoyed at all the people who had been out there before, so carelessly walking through where I'd want to take pictures that morning. How rude! But then I realized that I was of course walking through there and probably messing up some future person's pictures. So sorry about that!

#6:

March 18: Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is one my favorite cities to visit. On this trip, we were there with our two small kids so that meant visiting some of the more family-friendly parts of the French Quarter (so no Bourbon Street this time). We spent a lot of time in Jackson Square, which gives lots of room to run around without having to worry about traffic or drunk tourists. Plus it's just a short walk away from Napoleon House (and its muffaletas).

#5:

April 28: Near Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Spent a lot of time taking pictures of this simple gate, as storm clouds lingered over the field on the other side. The infrared camera made the clouds look a little more spooky than they were in person, but I loved the contrast between the land and sky here.

#4:

October 27: Pig Trail Scenic Byway, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The Pig Trail is one of the prettiest stretches of road in Arkansas, especially on a day when a bit of fog helps bring out the fall colors. I drove up there to meet my friend Zack so we could go hiking, but I was late because I kept stopping to take pictures along the road. Luckily there wasn't that much traffic that day.

#3:

March 19: New Orleans City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans City Park is a great place to visit, especially if you need a break from the crowded streets and noise of the French Quarter. The park contains the largest strand of mature live-oak trees in the world, with some trees that are thought to be over 800 years old.

#2:

February 25: Idlewild School, near DeVall's Bluff, Arkansas
This old one-room school was built in 1921, and was in use until 1949. This was taken on a rainy day in the Arkansas Delta, where a massive puddle had formed on the saturated ground in front of the school. I'm honored that this picture was chosen by the Arkansas Arts Council to tour the state as part of the 2024 Small Works on Paper exhibition.

#1:

December 11: Dante's View, Death Valley National Park, California
Death Valley has some of the darkest skies in the country, and I was so excited about the possibility of doing star trail photos out there. But whoops, it turns out that every night some clouds would roll through so I never got a chance to do star pictures. But those clouds did produce some great sunsets, including this one at Dante's View. The view, with the sunset reflected in the temporary lake at Badwater Basin, was truly breathtaking.


And I'd like to thank you for reading this!! I hope y'all have a great 2024. May the waterfalls be flowing, the fall colors be vibrant, and the mosquitoes not plentiful. Happy New Year!

Death Valley - Time To Go :(

This was our last few hours left in the park. We would need to check out of the hotel, and then drive back to Las Vegas. But we tried to see as much as we could in the limited time we had. We drove up the turn-off to the trail to the Natural Bridge. We didn't have time to hike the trail, but took some pictures of the massive eroded mountains at the trailhead.



The trailhead also had this view, looking back at the valley below. It really shows how large and vast the landscape here is. You can see the temporary lake that stretches across to Badwater Basin, the white saltpan, and the darker formations of the Devils Golfcourse. For a sense of scale, the lines that you can see at the bottom of the picture are roads.





After that we took the turn to the trailhead for Desolation Canyon. We didn't have time to hike the whole trail, but did walk along it for a few minutes to get a better look at these massive mountains.



But now, sadly, it was time to check out of the hotel. We packed up our stuff and loaded the rental car up. It was windy that day, enough that it kicked up a lot of the dust and sand. In some places, it almost looked like a little sandstorm was going on.



And then we reached the park boundary, and stopped to take one last picture. Like those lost 49ers, I looked back at the park and said "Goodbye, Death Valley." Then we headed across the border into Nevada.

Death Valley - Artists Palette

Tucked off of the road to Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the aptly-named Artists Drive, which provides an up-close view to the tall mountains that line the valley.



We stopped at the main overlook, called Artists Palette. The rocks here look like they were painted, in so many colors that it would make Bob Ross happy.





The colors are from ancient volcanic deposits, where oxidation and other chemical reactions produced various colors in the rocks



The red, pink and yellow colors were caused by the oxidation of iron. The green was from the decomposition of tuff-derived mica. And the purple is from the oxidation of manganese.



For a place filled with almost nothing but rocks and sand, Death Valley has so many different and varied landscapes. It's a really neat place.





We were there right after sunrise, while the mountains were still covered in shadow.





We got back on the Artists Drive road, which then headed up to an overlook of the Black Mountains.



And then it passes through hills carved by erosion. Luckily there weren't many other people out that morning so we could make lots of stops on the one-way road.



And then the drive ends with one last view of the vast saltflats of the valley.

Death Valley - Badwater Basin

Usually when we make trips out West and go hiking, I can blame me being worn out and tired on the elevation (instead of just being out of shape). But I didn't have that excuse this time, since a good portion of Death Valley sits below sea level. And one spot in Death Valley is the lowest spot in all of North America - Badwater Basin, which sits at an evaluation of -282 feet.



The small pool of water here is what actually gave the basin its name. It is a spring-fed pool, and back in the olden days a surveyor led his mule here to get a drink. The mule refused, because the water was "bad." Turns out it's not poisonous, just really salty. There are some aquatic animals that live in the pool, including the Badwater snail, which is only found here in this valley. The plants along the pool are pickleweed.



And another view of the pool, where the nearby mountains were reflected in the still waters.



Badwater Basin was once a large inland lake that completely evaporated tens of thousands of years ago. When it was gone, it left behind concentrated deposits of salt. Now the saltflat stretches on for about 200 square miles. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the place is massive.



There usually isn't this much water here. This is all runoff from the hurricane that passed over the park a few months ago. Death Valley is a rocky place, with little to no vegetation. So all the rain that fell quickly ran down to the lowest point, where it has collected here. It won't absorb into the salt, so the water will remain until it's slowly evaporated away.



Badwater Basin is the lowest place in North America, but not the world. That distinction belongs to the Dead Sea, which has an elevation of -1,358 feet below sea level.



It had been bright and sunny all day, but some clouds appeared and helped to make a nice sunset that evening. The color in the sky reflected nicely in the waters of the ephemeral lake.



And one last view of the lake, and the salt formations in the shallow water. The last light of the day is beginning the fade out in the distance.