The Joshua Tree

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FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (10mm, f/9, 1/150 sec, ISO200)

Still in the Joshua Tree NP surrounded my a landscape to die for. Here it’s easy to see why I can’t get enough of the South West.

But I don’t blame you if you can’t share my enthusiasm. Pictures are no substitute for the real thing. You have to experience the quietness, the warm wind and the sun on your skin, the endless blue sky. The solitude.

In a world where many of us can buy almost everything there are only a couple of things of real value. One of the most valuable things today is time, another one is space. I was always aware of the first but not so much of the second. Before I started to travel to Asia I took space for granted. But after I experienced the packed cities in Asia I know that private space is a luxury. To travel the South West for a couple of weeks is anything but cheap but it gets me a relaxed time with my wife and in places like this I feel like I own the world. And that’s priceless.

Something completely different! (the picture below) Don’t worry regarding the sensor of my camera, it’s the windscreen of my car. I should have washed it or better not stopped down the lens so much.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16.6mm, f/9, 1/125 sec, ISO200)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (24mm, f/9, 1/150 sec, ISO200)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (20mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (15.1mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO250)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (19.1mm, f/9, 1/105 sec, ISO200)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (10mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO320)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (24mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO250)

One camera, one lens. For this little walk on the trail I didn’t take anything except the my camera with the XF 10-24/4 OIS attached. I think mainly because I realised that no matter how hard I try I could never capture the place.

So I did what my smart wife does when she is traveling with me. She doesn’t take and pictures but looks at the scenery right now. I remember a scene in the Canadian Rockies. We were standing on a viewpoint. I was taking pictures, my wife was absorbing the breathtaking scenery of a milky green coloured lake in front of the mountains. A bus with tourist from Japan arrived and everybody immediately started to take pictures. I went a couple of steps back to cover the scene. Dozens of Japanese with their cameras bolted to their faces while my wife with her hands in her pockets was just looking around.

I always remember that scene when I come to a viewpoint. And most of the time I take a good look around before I start to shoot.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (19.1mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO320)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (10mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO400)
 FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16.6mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO320)

At the end of our walk I was so relaxed that I took a selfie. It doesn’t happen very often. I think I may have around ten on my iPhone. So I don’t have a lot of routine which explains the rather short focal length.

This is not my first blog post covering the Joshua Tree NP. There are so many that I ran out of song titles from the album until I realised that I never used the title of the album. So here it is: The Joshua Tree. A great album of the 80s and one of my favourite parks. From time to time I have to revisit both.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (15.9mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO500)