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Tag: infrared wilderness

  • Mount Dana in Infrared Silence

    Mount Dana in Infrared Silence

    Captured just off Tioga Road (Highway 120) near the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park, this surreal infrared image reveals the towering granite face of Mount Dana rising above a calm, high-country pond. Shot with an infrared-converted camera, the scene transforms into a luminous dreamscape—where pine trees glow with snow-like brilliance and the sky turns to velvet black, intensifying the drama of this alpine wilderness.

    The pond in the foreground, likely a meltwater pool near Dana Meadows, mirrors the light and textures with quiet clarity. At over 13,000 feet, Mount Dana looms like a sentinel of the Sierra Nevada, its rugged form contrasting with the delicate detail of the illuminated foliage below.

    This photograph is part of an ongoing exploration of Yosemite’s lesser-traveled high country, using infrared light to uncover the hidden energy and ethereal beauty that lies just beyond the visible spectrum. A moment of calm. A monument of stone. A place where time and light speak a different language.

  • Solitary Sentinel – Joshua Tree in Infrared

    Solitary Sentinel – Joshua Tree in Infrared

    Captured in the heart of Joshua Tree National Park, this surreal image transforms the desert landscape into something otherworldly. Using a Nikon D800 converted for infrared photography, I was able to reveal the stark beauty of the desert in an entirely new light.

    The Joshua Tree, a symbol of resilience and wild elegance, stands alone against a backdrop of gently rolling hills and a nearly black sky—an effect created by the deep infrared spectrum. The spiky foliage glows with an ethereal, icy tone, while the texture of the bark and desert scrub becomes hyper-detailed, giving the scene an almost alien quality.

    Infrared photography at Joshua Tree offers a dramatic reinterpretation of the familiar. Where the sun-bleached sand and blue skies typically dominate, the infrared view emphasizes contrast and mood, stripping away color to reveal form, light, and shadow in their purest expressions.

    This image, for me, captures not just a moment in the Mojave—but the essence of isolation, strength, and beauty in one of America’s most unique landscapes.

  • Desert Sentinel – Joshua Tree in Infrared

    Desert Sentinel – Joshua Tree in Infrared

    In the high desert of Joshua Tree National Park, the sun bears down relentlessly, and even the hardiest plants take on an otherworldly beauty. This infrared image transforms the stark reality of the Mojave into something dreamlike—where the sky turns jet black, the scrub glows white, and the yucca tree stands alone like a quiet sentinel.

    Shot with an infrared-converted camera, this photograph highlights the reflective properties of desert flora, exaggerating contrast and revealing textures invisible to the naked eye. The strong midday shadows deepen the drama, while the deep black sky creates a canvas of high-desert minimalism.

    Joshua Tree is a place of extremes—heat and stillness, life and emptiness. This image is part of our Americana Project, capturing the strange beauty and solitude found in some of the most iconic landscapes of the American West.