Ghosts Of The Desert

BEHIND THE IMAGE

Legend has it, that when a group of mormons were travelling through the Mojave Desert in the 1800’s they came upon some Joshua trees. The mormons thought that these trees resembled the bible’s Joshua as he raised his arms in prayer and took this as a sign that they should continue in their travels to find their promised land. Looking at the shape and form of these trees, it is easy to see how Joshua trees may have gotten their name. In the shadows of the early morning at Joshua Tree National Park, the Joshua trees do resemble people standing in a very bleak landscape.

Some people find the desert to be grim and forbidding. At first site the landscape looks barren with sparse and strangely shaped vegetation. The temperature is beyond what most people would consider to be ‘hot’, the winds are dry and water is nowhere to be seen. But, if you take a closer look, you will find that the landscape in places like Joshua Tree National Park is teeming with life. The vegetation might appear strange if you are used to rolling green hills with lush green trees, but the vegetation here are rugged survivors with their own type of beauty . The vegetation like the Joshua Tree, yuccas, and creosote bushes have adapted and thrive in this formidable landscape. The same can be said for the animal life found in this national park. During the day birds, ground squirrels and lizards abound and in the night, animals like snakes, coyotes and jackrabbits are more likely to be seen. Many people must find beauty in the deserts at Joshua Tree National Park since at least 2.8 million people travel travel there every year.

Ghosts of the Desert captures the beauty of the formidable landscape in Joshua Tree National Park. A pink sky casts an eerie glow over the mountains in the distance and the flat desert floor in the foreground. Looking at this photograph, you can almost feel the slightly cool air as it wafts over the bushes and the human shaped trees directly in front of you, and the mountains in the far distance.