Later that evening, I decided to revisit the freezing cold and do some more "light painting", keeping the shutter of my camera open for a little over four minutes while I painted the outdoor "bathtub spa" with beautiful light from my trusty mag light.

But what's different here?  Have a look at the bathtub. It has an eerie blue glow!  I placed my mag light inside the tub, covering it with a blue filter.  Fun!

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Geek Talk:

"Light painting" is using long exposure photography, leaving the lens open for long periods of time while "painting" the object with light.  For the next three photos, my "light paintbrush" was my trusty mag light, which incidentally gets really cold when it's 35 degrees Fahrenheit unless you have gloves. I placed my mag light inside the bathtub for about 30-35 seconds with a couple of blue filters laid over the flashlight to give the bathtub its eerie blue glow!!!  The ceiling was "painted" with a green filter, but it doesn't seem to really show up very much at all.

The streaks of light above are the movement of the stars since the lens was open for over two and a half minutes.

250.1 second exposure, F/3.5, 18-200mm VR AF lens.

The next morning, we hiked the trail to one of the five oases in the park, 49 Palms Oasis, formerly a very important oasis for the Native Americans living here at the time.  It was cool, green, and beautiful, the same reason that draws visitors out to it today.  But they also harvested dates and pinyon nuts nearby, something perhaps most visitors do not do. 

The 49 Palms Oasis is located in a rugged steep canyon behind the town of 29 Palms. 

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18-200mm VR AF lens.

On the trail back from 49 Palms Oasis, we saw this fine looking lizard.  This was taken with my 50mm lens, which tells you that he let me get surprisingly close to him before skittering behind the rock!!!

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

After another delicious home-cooked meal from Lisa - one of the advantages of staying in a home instead of a hotel - we went to Pappy And Harriet's in Pioneertown to see a band called Dengue Fever.  For those who don't know this Los Angeles-based band, who combine Cambodian pop-rock with psychedelic rock.  They were formed in 2001 by Ethan Holtzman after he visited Cambodia and was inspired to start a band.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.  One of the bonuses of this prime lens is that it is a very fast lens, or to put it another way, does very well in low lighting situations, such as here at Pappy And Harriet's.  None of these band photos were taken with a flash, using only the very dim natural lighting instead.  I was able to shoot at an ISO of 2500 on my Nikon D90 with a shutter speed of 1/100, fast enough to capture someone clearly if they aren't moving around or jumping up and down.

Some of Dengue Fever's songs are covers of 1960s Cambodian rock tunes by such artists as Sinn Sisamouth, Pan Ron, and Ros Sereysothea, but some are originals, first written in English by the Holtzmans before being translated.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

If you haven't heard the compilation "Cambodian Rocks" (1996, Parallel Worlds), you should check it out.  It's a really fun compilation of Cambodian rock music that still puts a smile on my face, and even influences some of the music I play.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

Playing flute through a vocoder and effects, great fun.  Dengue Fever at Pappy And Harriet's in Pioneertown, out near Joshua Tree.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. For this photo, I also shot at 1/100 at ISO 2500, focusing on  his eye.  I really like the bokeh on his hat and flute, a beautiful sense of depth and space that this lens is capable of doing.  I believe this was shot at f1.4.

The guitarist for Dengue Fever.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

The moon and the rocks.

Being out late at Pappy and Harriet's, we got a late start.  No matter.  We still went through the majestic Park one more time, this time stopping at Skull Rock first, with its fantastic landscape of rocks.

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Nikkor 18-200mm VR AF lens.

As we climbed around on the rocks, admiring Skull Rock and the otherworldly landscape, a teenage boy plopped down on a rock.  His mother asked why he wasn't climbing or looking around.  "It's just a bunch of rocks."  His father continued snapping photos.  "It's just a bunch of rocks."  He sulked and listened to his iPod, Skull Rock looking at him in disbelief.

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Nikkor 18-200mm VR AF lens.  Nik Color Efex Pro with vignetting plugin.

We continued driving downhill toward the south end of the park.  If we go this way, a stop by the teddy bear cactus plant, or cholla cactus, which only grow in this specific area, is of course a must.  These cactus grow in very specific environments, with this particular area lying within the ecological transition zone between the Mojave and Colorado deserts.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

A close-up of the blooming cholla cactus.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Although a 50mm is not a macro lens, it can still excel at taking photos like this.  While it was fun seeing how shallow the lens could make the depth of field, I had to back off here so that more of the bloom would be in focus.

But if the cholla cactus is unique, the ocotillo is downright bizarre, straight out of "Fantastic Planet" or a Dr. Seuss book.  Ocotillo are leafless most of the year, except immediately after rain.  We were lucky to catch them during this time.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

After the long visit to Skull Rock, the Cholla Cactus garden, and other areas of the Park, we went through the southern entrance to the park and popped out on the 10 Fwy on the other side of Coachella and its date farms, driving through Indio and Palm Springs. 

By this time, we were famished, so we stopped for the giant tacos at Crazy Coyote Tacos in Banning, near the crazy windmills and outlet center at Cabazon.  The hot sauce was surprisingly hot but delicious.  The whole giant taco was delicious.  I also would like to add that more taco stands should have plastic dinosaurs by their patio.  I applaud this totally.

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50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.