This piece was born during a trip to Joshua Tree National Park, a place that always feels like stepping onto another planet. While most visitors look up at the famous Joshua Trees, my attention was captured by this magnificent Ocotillo.
​It was standing stark against the desert floor, its spiny branches reaching up like frantic nerve endings. In the harsh midday sun, the landscape can look washed out to the naked eye, but I wanted to capture the energy radiating from the plant rather than just its botanical reality. I took the reference photo right there on the trail, struck by how the Ocotillo commanded the space against the distant backdrop of the mountains