Valley of Fire ~4
Category: Landscapes
Valley Of Fire ~3
Valley of Fire~2
Valley of Fire consists of bright red Aztec sandstone outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone mountains. The sandstone is from the Jurassic period and is the remnant of the sand left behind by the wind after inland seas subsided and the land rose. Early man moved into southern Nevada as far back as 11,000 years ago. The most obvious evidence of occupation from about 2,500 years ago. Here is the first set of photos 🙂
Valley of Fire~1
Valley of fire in Mojave Desert in Nevada. It had been about 35 years since my previous visit to this colorful place of red Aztec sandstone outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone mountains.
The area plant community is dominated by widely spaced creosote bush, burro bush and brittlebush. Several cactus species, including beaver tail and cholla, are also common
Las Vegas Desert
The second day we where contemplating as what to do. As stated we do not gamble so instead of heading to the casinos we went to see sights. Our first place to visit was Valley of Fire in the Mojave Desert. It is unbelievable that in the middle of the desert you can find these beautiful red rock formations. I will post several post from there as I did take so many photos of this colorful place.
These photos are from the drive through the “normal” Las Vegas desert with the mountains surrounding it beautifully. It does not look that spectacular, but if you look closely you can see beauty here too. What do you think, have I captured beauty of the desert?
Sunset
Beauty, majestic nature. Just beautiful, sunset at sequoia. All unedited photos 😀.
Lake Mead and Hoover dam
Today we visited lake Mead and Hoover dam, it was not and warm even though it is October. I only took few photos with my mobile. Here is some pre photos as I will empty my camera when I get home 
Rocky Mountain
This was a little sight from the plane, flying above Rocky Mountain 
Busy
I have been busy. I took up sculpture and painting again. Also planning our next trip. So I have not been active taking photos. Fall is here again so one for the road. Monday we are flying to LA and Las Vegas. I’m sure I will post some pictures taken with my mobile phone. 
On the road
It has been once again a day of rain and sunshine. Mostly rain. I drove to Lohja Hospital to have a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of my foot that has bothered me for a year and a half now. Hopefully after these new ones they will know what to do with it. Operation or just continue as it is… well this is not what my picture are about. As I said I drove there, it was through the country roads and this is what I tooks photos of. Our ever changing clouds
Sailing
Today is supposedly the last day of summer according to article I read in the paper. The rains are coming down on us from tomorrow. Lets see what happens…
But in the mean while here is a photo I want to share. I am starting my fall by taking on painting again and I will also start to study / do sculpture after few years of doing nothing on either of these hobbies of mine. And the photo – I thought I would use this photo as an inspiration on my first painting.
Mist
I am repeating myself quit a bit, but cant help myself. I love the mist in August. Obviously I have tons of photos of it. Some better than others. Here are some, surprise, surprise from our summer house.
Misty August evening
I love the soft and sweet August light, the mist that comes after the rain and the colors of it. One again I spent a weekend at my summer place. I have gotten to the habit of leaving my computer home so I do not end up by mistake spending hours on it. These are from Saturday evening.
CFFC – Trees
the lungs of the earth. Love them,it is also the totpic on CFFC this week.
Beautiful Shore
Traveling Eastern Finland #3½
These are photos I took of the Imatra Rapids before the flow started. The colors on the rock formation and reflection were lovely a joy to the eyes
Traveling Eastern Finland #3
We drove to Imatra in the afternoon our aim to see the Imatrankoski flow, (“The Imatra Rapid”) is a rapid on the Vuoksi River in Imatra. It has been a famous tourist attraction since the late 1700s. The Vuoksi River and Imatrankoski were born about 5,000 BP as the waters of the Saimaa Lake penetrated the Salpausselkä ridge due to post-glacial rebound, forming a river flowing into the Lake Ladoga.It is also one of the National landscapes of Finland. Since 1929 the rapid has been blocked by a dam . Today, the dam is opened daily between June and August at 6 PM with the music of Sibelius playing in the background. Not that you can hear it down stream where we wnnt to watch it. The raw power of the water is awesome.
Summer holiday
Out time at summer cottage continues in warm and sunny weather. I love way this view change. These are taken in the afternoon , evening and night time the last on I took just now. The color and atmosphere is captivating at all times.
Sunset
Yesterday driving back to out summer cottage on the last stretch of the way I took photos of the sunset on three different lakes. Iso kukkanen , pikku kukkanen and the last one was Salajärvi. To make the story short, it was a lovely and warm summer night.
In July the different shades of greens in the nature are so evident and beautiful. These are taken moments before sunset.
July moon
A near full moon in the country side as seen just before sunset
View from bridge
Summer evening
It was a quiet evening at the country side. I took a walk on an deserted road, no one but me and my cameras. These I took with my mobile.
Before the thunderstorm
I was sitting in my backyard watching the clouds gather into the intense blue gray color. I took these just before the thunderstorm was above us.The temperature dropped three degrees in just s short while…got to love Finnish summer and the amazing 17 C degrees of warmth.
Lake Jänisjärvi
I had great visit to a cottage to see relatives visiting from Australia. 
Lake Humaljärvi
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 