Joshua Tree National Monument 5-2025

This is the third time I've photographed in the monument and I kind of know the area...I started early afternoon and worked until sunset and then back for sunrise the following morning...Had some nice clouds in some of the afternoon photos...I chose the sepia tone to empathize shapes and contrast but switched to color for the sunset and sunrise...Granite is a coarse-grained igneous rock primarily composed of quartz, feldspar and mica...It forms from the cooling of magma deep within the Earth's crust, resulting in its characteristic large crystals and durability...In some of the photos you may notice lines in the boulders...When molten rock cools underground it shrinks, causing cracks to develop... Later more molten rock squeezes into these cracks and hardens....Erosion has stripped away most to the surrounding rock to reveal the filled-in cracks called intrusions..Yucca brevifolia (Joshua Tree) is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca...It is tree-like in habit and is native to the Mohave Desert...The last few photos were taken in the Cholla Cactus Garden on the drive into the park from Interstate 10...I've never seen such a concentration of these cactus...They are not friendly to the touch....Look for the raven who was hoping for a handout....