Can a tree cut a rock?

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Dead tree branch cutting through a rock, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Dead tree branch cutting through a rock, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I know this photo will never win me any awards or make any money, but it was such an interesting sight, I just had to share.  This was from our recent winter / spring travels.

This dead branch was still connected to the tree it grew from, but part of it came to rest on this rock.  As the tree swayed back and forth in the wind, this branch would rub against the sandstone boulder.  Over what probably took many, many years the branch has slowing cut it’s way through the stone.  Now granted, on the scale of hardness, sandstone is much softer then most – but it is still hard enough that trying to cut it by hand with tools would have taken a lot of effort.  Pretty interesting.

At the time I found this, I was exploring a somewhat remote canyon hoping to find an interesting slot canyon.  Judging by the difficult access to this canyon, I think it is safe to say very few people ever visit this area – just as well, one misplaced step and this branch would be broken.  I may have to go back in a few years to see how much more has been cut.

Miniature Las Vegas

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas, Nevada.

This was one of the test frames for what will be a short time-lapse video of Las Vegas.

I have seen this technique used many times, but had never tried it myself.  When some nice defused light moved in during the day while we were in Las Vegas this past April I thought I would give it a try.  This is done by using a wide aperture for a narrow depth of field on a tilt / shift lens.  By tilting the lens and moving the narrow band of focus part way into the frame, you can achieve this trippy look that makes everything look miniature.  If you don’t have a tilt / shift lens, you can kind of do the same thing by adding blur in Photoshop – I think this has gotten even easier with the new version of Photoshop, CS6 but I haven’t upgraded yet.  Probably a project for this weekend.

Desert Bighorn – Valley of Fire

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Travel 4 Comments

Desert Bighorn, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Desert Bighorn, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I spotted this guy in Valley of Fire last week.  As beautiful as the scenery is in this State Park, it is also one of the better places in the Southwest to find Desert Bighorns.

This guy looked a little haggard.  Later in the day I found a band of about 11 big, beautiful rams, but they weren’t nearly as approachable as this guy.

Scion FR-S

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Scion-FR-S seen during a commercial shot, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

Scion-FR-S seen during a commercial shot, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I was in Valley of Fire State Park yesterday shooting a moving 3D time-lapse on a 6 foot ramp when my unique setup caught the attention of a film crew working on a car commercial.  I was happy to answer their questions since I had my own questions about their production.  I asked if I could grab a few photos of the cars during the filming and they said go ahead – so this is a scene that you may soon see on TV, except in a horizontal format.

This 2 seat sports car will be released this week I understand – it is a joint venture between Toyota and Subaru.  Subaru will market it as the BRZ, while Toyota  will sell it under their Scion brand and will call it the FR-S.  It will sell for around $25,000.

I often think I may have the best possible job out there – but after talking to the professional drivers who were able to race up and down the curvy roads through the park that were closed off by Highway Patrol – now I’m not so sure.  🙂

Update:  It will be formally introduced tomorrow (Sunday) at the Long Beach Grand Prix as the marshal car.

Bouder City Zip-line

Ron Niebrugge Las Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 2 Comments

Zip-line above Boulder City, Nevada.

Zip-line above Boulder City, Nevada.

This is the beginning of a series of zip-lines that end up at the bottom of the mountain.  The end of this zip is on the distant ridge – looks fun!

If you look close you can see a series of trails heading down this hill side.  These are part of a series of down hill mountain biking trails known as the Bootleg Canyon Trails.  On certain days of the week there is a shuttle that hauls riders back to the top.  Add Lake Mead and the Colorado River, and I gotta say, there are a lot of recreation opportunities in this area.

I originally drove / hiked to the top of this mountain thinking it would offer a nice view of the Las Vegas Strip, but it was too far away.  It did provide nice views of the town, lake and this zip-line!