The absence of color can sometimes express more than the most vibrant image. Maybe because instead of focusing on color we can focus on the subject.
Shore break on the California coast
Fleur Noir
Landscape of the Mojave Desert.
Kings Canyon Scenic Byway & the Kings River, Sierra Nevada, California
Cactus Blossom
Fine hairs acting as little parachutes will help these seeds find their future destinations once they get picked up by a wind gust.
Geologists believe the face of the modern Joshua Tree landscape was born more than 100 million years ago.
Closing in on a cactus blossom shows fragility of leaves and stamen.
Cloudy reflections on a low tide beach let this scene appear like an endless mirror.
At a high elevation this teddy cholla cactus (cylindropuntia bigelovii) found a source of water to sustain itself.
The majestic landscape of the Sierra Nevada.
The high deserts of the west are abundant in diversity. There is as much life as the natural resources allow.
Much energy is needed by a cactus plant, native to arid landscapes, to produce large flowers like these.
Mine equipment left behind at an old ore mine in California is now protected as historical artifacts.
One can hardly imagine the kind of life and hardship living deep in the desert when seeing old homesteads like this one.
Cactus blossoms are highly frequented by nectar collecting insects and birds.
The road into the desert leads to places wonderful and magical.
Cactus bloom usually occurs at night and only last 2 to 3 days.
Looking across a plain one may think that this is just a different kind of forest. One where nature has perfectly considered the amount of water for each of its inhabitants.
The Kings River of the Sierra Nevada originates along the Sierra Crest in and around Kings Canyon National Park and forms the eponymous Kings Canyon.
The big rock landscapes of the Mojave Desert are a result of geological formations. Molten liquid, heated by the continuous movement of Earth’s crust, oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface. These plutonic intrusions are a granitic rock called monzogranite.
A closeup of a dandelion (taraxum) head reveals the perfect symmetry and spacing of seeds.
The Joshua Tree (yucca brevifolia) is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Details of blossom leaves are noticeable here in a 'noir' image of a cactus blossom.
Monochromatic Joshua Tree