Baja Rocks — Intricate Explorer | Adventure Photography

Alright, this shoot has a LOT of photos... Might be my most ever from a single session, second to Alcatraz Island. For some reason the Baha Rocks of Baha California drew me in... HARD.

I'm still trying to figure out why some days I burst with creativity and other days I'm normal. It's almost like it comes in waves, but there's no way to determine the pattern. I want to hack my mind to be like this EVERY day.

A couple blog posts back I was thinking there was a correlation with the Friday shoots (I usually shoot Monday-Friday) being the most creative, because I had the momentum of the entire week built up, and a weekend to fall back on.

But the past two Fridays haven't been nearly as EXPLOSIVE, so I'm discounting that theory. And now it's Sunday, and I'm getting the creative surge. What the fuck.

I feel like I'm playing a slot machine. Humans put money in them because the brain wants to figure out a pattern to success, but there isn't one. It's completely random. Maybe photography "surges" are completely random.

Is that what I'm calling them now? "Surges?" Jesus, that sounds dumb as fuck. I've always liked the term "state," so maybe I'll call the intense creative sessions that instead. For example, "Upon seeing the Dr. Seuss trees, I immediately fell into state."

Anyway. Let's talk about Baha Rocks. For reference, that's purely a generic term based off a random Google Maps location in the area. All the photos on this shoot were taken off the highway somewhere between El Rosario de Arriba and Cataviña.

It all started when we were heading down Highway 1, going about 74mph in our dusty white van. Small saguaros began to emerge, which initially caught my interest because they're not very common in the US besides in lower Arizona and New Mexico.

But as we kept going, the cacti began growing in size. Eventually, it was common to see saguaros over 50 feet tall. This place made Saguaro National Park look like a petting zoo.

And that was just the saguaros. There was also this strange cactus I like to call the "Dr. Seuss Tree," because it looks straight out of his novels. I'd never seen them in my life.

After about 30 minutes of gaping in awe, I realized I should probably get my zoom lens out and try to snag some shots. I set my lens on a fast shutter, and took aim out the window.

Here's some shots I banged:

Baha Rocks, Baja California — **“They’re Always Watching”**
*Sony a7rIII* + *Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM*
[ISO 100 ~ 200mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/2000s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)

Both of those were taken while moving about 69mph. No, seriously. It felt like some type of game to be composing a shot so fast. Rapid fire. Annnnd that led me to my first realization of the shoot:

If you want to get good at composing compositions, sit in a the front of seat of a moving car with a zoom lens and try to take small, intimate scenes out your window. It'll hardwire your brain to compose scenes faster. That way when you're on location and the sun is rapidly setting, your brain will be used to composing fast.

Obviously you'll have to take a lot of shots and you'll miss some scenes, but you'll also find some unexpected gems in the editing room. Cropping is key here.

We eventually stumbled upon an overlook the let us see over the entire cacti-rich landscape. And guess what type of shot I got?

A layers shot! If you guessed it, here's 50 bucks.

Going off what I learned at Alpine Vista in Cali about picking a subject in your layer shots to add interest, I found a single saguaro in the distance and nailed it to my lens:

And with that, I was happier than a clam. We drove for another hour or so, and I put my camera away to save some energy for sunset. My general rule of thumb is if I shoot for more than 3 hours straight, I burn out.

It was at this point that we began looking for some type of campsite, anything really. As long as it's a bit off the road, it's fair game for us in Mexico. We found one spot by a deserted planetarium thing, but it looked a little too sketch of a road to drive down in our massive hunker.

Fortunately there was a MASSIVELY tall saguaro nearby, so the stop wasn't for nothing. I got a shot of Haley next to it for reference.

I'm really glad I got that shot, because the cacti are so fucking tall out here I wanted to remember it and have PROOF for anyone that called my shit out. The saguaros in the US just aren't the same. Also, I replaced that sky with something a little more dandy than blown out sunlight.

NEXT!

We found another campsite down the road that ticked our fancy, and hopped out with about 30 minutes until sunset. Immediately upon exiting the van, I snagged an up-close shot of this glowing cacti. The colors of the spikes were so bright compared to everything, it stood out like a sore thumb:

**“You Look Glowing”**
*Sony a7rIII* + *Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM*
[ISO 100 ~ 146mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)

When I went to edit it, I isolated the spikes to make the shot specifically about them.

I took a look around. Pure flatness. Which was cool, but not great for getting interesting angles on these cacti. There was a nice rock pile nearby, that could give me some leverage, however I'd have to be weary of rattlesnakes.

We hopped up the rocks and took in a view of the entire desert. It was ridiculous... I aimed a bit to the side of the sun and snagged this silhoutte shot to showcase all the jutting cacti:

A great wallpaper shot. But now... I had to get more serious. I wanted an epic landscape shot that wasn't as minimalist. Something complex, that I could really sit down and edit. I'm just now realizing I should name these kinds of shots... I refer to them in my head all the time but there's no NAME for them.

What about... a "Crème de la Crème." But abbreviated as "crème."

These are the shots that are difficult for me, because they require a complete foreground, subject, and background- all woven together seamlessly. In post they usually require luminosity masks, dodging/burning, and a complex understanding of Photoshop.

They're everything landscape photography leads up to.

With time running out, I settled upon this massive cacti tree. I would describe it to you, but what's the point in taking a photo if I'm just telling it to you. Here's the tree:

**“Tree on Fire”**
*Sony a7rIII* + *Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8*
[ISO 400 ~ 17mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/100s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)

This is a prime example of how luminosity masks can shine. Pull out that white in the branches, and pull out that red in the leaves. Boom. Perfect shot, focus stacked and everything.

One thing I'm starting to realize is the importance of pulling shadows out for supporting elements of scene that isn't relying upon silhouettes. For example, those saguaros in the backdrop looked way better a little more shadows pulled out of them.

It adds to the "awe" factor of a crème, and let's people look more closely at an image. Obviously this rule doesn't apply to shots where the silhouettes ARE the shot, like the two shots before this one.

And with that, I was satisfied. A solid day's work, I KNEW I had at least 4 killer shots. Walking back to the van though, I stumbled upon ANOTHER scene that I half-heartedly took in. I was exhausted and running out of creative juice, but I had one more snag in me.

With the twilight upon us, I framed this saguaro with diamond rocks:

I didn't even focus stack it, because I doubted I'd use it. But as I was reviewing the photos, I immediately knew it was a certified beauty. Luckily the saguaro was in focus enough to get away with not stacking, save you're not pixel peeping like a lil' bitch. All it needed was the perfect sky (the original one was empty blue.)

I searched through my archive and found the perfect cloud break, which I just happened to shoot the other day at Punta Brava while waiting for sunset...

It was PERFECT for lighting up the saguaro. I knew I'd use that at some point... It was too perfect to not save for later.

God damn shooting skies for later is such a big thing in this field. It can literally SAVE photos. Digital scrapbooking folks, digital scrapbooking.

Alright. This has been a doozy of a post, and that's all I got, so I'm gonna end it here.

We camped and slept happily ever after.

BYE.

I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.

Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.

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411 - Baja Rocks

412 - Faro Punta Areanas

410 - Punta Brava