Life on the Playa

Life on the PlayaAlvord Desert, Oregon This photograph shows an avocet egg resting directly in the rocks of the Alvord Desert playa. I made this image while stranded on the dry lake bed after a heavy rain left the ground impassable for more than five days and my rig sunk in the mud. During that time, I spent a lot of hours walking the playa, moving slowly and carefully. Thats when I came across this nest. Avocets and other wading birds will often build simple nests

and human passage long before it became an international boundary

And then I walked into this scene

The skyline stretches across the frame

and light working together

Evenings here are quiet

and time into a maze of rounded boulders

The softness and distortion toward the edges are a natural result of the lens and angle

and forgotten tools remain scattered across the landscape

Lajitas lies along the Rio Grande corridor in Big Bend

Elevation changes dramatically across the region

Moments like this are rare

the cold was relentless