Joshua Tree / Pioneertown, 10 September 2010
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 Some
doors providing a screen around an outdoor sink at Rimrock Ranch, up in the
high desert near Joshua Tree National Park. I loved the peacefulness
and openness out here in the desert, and never had it appealed more than on
this trip. |
 Rimrock
Ranch truck, this time in the daylight. |
 Gram
Rabbit sign across the street from Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. |
 Having
dinner inside Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. This photo has
it all...Lisa, a picture of bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley, and a deer
head. |
 Mmmmmmm...the
outdoor grill at Pappy and Harriet's. |
 The
entrance to Pappy's. |
 We
were standing in the back, listening to the band Cracker perform. For
some reason, this kid decided to crouch underneath this light, not moving
for fifteen minutes. It made for a fun photo. |
 A
bicycle sculpture in the outdoor area of Pappy and Harriet's.
Pioneertown, which began as a wild west living movie set made to look like
an 1870s frontier town with
facades for filming and interiors open to the public, thanks to investors
such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Pappy and Harriet's was part of
this wild west facade in the 1940s. However, in 1972, Harriet's
mother, Francis Aleba, and her husband, John, purchased the building and
opened "Cantina", a biker burrito bar that became a destination for bikers
traveling to Big Bear and Las Vegas, serving people for ten years.
Eventually, Harriet and her husband opened it up for Tex-Mex cuisine and
live music. |
 Cracker
on the outdoor stage at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace. |
 After
the Cracker show, we returned to Rimrock Ranch. I shot this long
exposure shot of Polaris and the surrounding desertscape from Rimrock Ranch
before drifting off to sleep.
Unlike the previous star trails photograph that I took in Joshua Tree
National Park, I didn't have time to scout the location, so I took best
guess at focusing (which thankfully turned out well) and just embraced the
ambient lights from houses and cars nearby. You can see the streaking
lights of two cars at the bottom of the photo.I set up the camera to face north, perfect for best accentuating the curvature of the movement of the stars around Polaris, the North Star, which appears to be stationary. From the viewpoint of a night photographer with a camera fixed in one position, the earth's rotation creates amazing curved star trails if one holds the shutter open long enough due to the earth's rotation! Kewl! While the camera shutter remained open for 32 minutes, I relaxed by lying down and looking up at the stars, even seeing a couple of shooting stars. Check out the Joshua Tree star trails photo and other photos here. 32 minute exposure, ISO 200, f/8. Here's a list of previous Pioneertown and Joshua Tree visits! |
Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand,
Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines,
websites, and galleries. Visit the
Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be
purchased through his
Imagekind Store. |
Joshua Tree / Pioneertown, September 2010
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