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Tony Stewart

This was yesterday, just minutes before Tony “Smoke” Stewart qualified for Sunday’s Las Vegas NASCAR race.  Given all the demands from media, fans etc., I got the feeling that finally sitting down in the driver seat was probably a welcome quiet escape; I was hoping to capture that in this photo.  I used a bit of fill flash to help illuminate Tony inside the dark cockpit.

An interesting rock, Valley of the Fire State Park, Nevada.

This seemed to have fallen from a cliff higher up – it sure had a unique shape and color!

Here are more photos of Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Janine on Sherbet Hill, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Well, I made the name Sherbet Hill up.  I’m not sure if this amazing place has a name – as I have never seen a photo of this place, but I thought the name was fitting!

We meet up with some good friends from Seward recently, and I couldn’t wait to show them Valley of Fire, so we returned to the Park on Saturday.  I hit a couple of familiar spots, and tried unsuccessfully to find the Desert Bighorn.  We then decided to go for a nice hike.  I pretty much picked a random spot, and went a random direction in a trail-less area to see what we could find.  Well what was found is pictured above – I think it has to be one of the most unique and beautiful little places I have ever seen!  It  looked like someone had poured drums of paint down the side of this hill – words really don’t do it justice.

I have photos with and without Janine – I posted one with her in it for scale – in fact, I have all kinds of variations as there are pretty much an infinite number of possibilities here.  It was fairly overcast – ideal conditions for this colorful landscape.  I wish I had more time – I could spend weeks hiking this park, who knows what else it out there.

Take a look at more Valley of Fire photos

Colorful sandstone, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

The area around the White Domes is amazing.  There is yellow and nearly white sandstone along with the red, and in areas where the colors mix, there are some wonderful combinations of color and patterns.  You never know what surprises may await around the next corner, over the next rise, or even in the little nooks and crannies.  I couldn’t believe how fast time flew by as Janine and I explored this area – I look forward to going back and wandering around even further.

See more Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada pictures.

Fire Cave, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I have also seen this secret spot referred to as Windstone Arch.  Whatever it is called, it is cool!

I’m always surprised at just how rich a glow is created when you have sun reflecting off red rock, onto more red rock.  I actually had to desaturate this a bit, although my camera does seem to run a bit hot with reds.   There is an endless number of areas worth exploring at Valley of Fire- numerous caves, arches, colorful sandstone, I’m surprised, but glad this area isn’t more popular.

See

Desert Bighorn, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I have visited and written about Valley of the Fire State Park before, but I still forget what a wonderful gem this place is – Southern Utah gets all the red rock attention, but this place is really sweet. 

I spent a fair amount of time with this guy – this was captured after sunset, I really prefer this time of day for these desert animals.  Otherwise the sun is just too harsh. 

I hope you don’t get too tired of photos from Valley of Fire, but I have a few I want to share over the next couple of days.