Area 51

Bisti Wilderness Natural Area in New Mexico is a true landscape photographers lottery win. It is a rather large primitive area in the four corners region encompassing 45,000 acres of eroded badlands, and offer some of the most unusual scenery on this side of the moon. Also called "De-Na-Zin‚” by the Navajo, hum, which if I took a stab at it means no amenities - no water, no toilets, no trails, signs or guideposts. Nothing. It is very easy to get lost here, even if you're careful. It can also be extremely hot in the daytime and very cold at night. A dedicated GPS unit is highly recommended, as there is very poor cell phone coverage in much of this area and even when there is coverage, phone maps don't provide details. Nothing. As a previous Special Techniques & Experimental Photographer Of The Year, I wanted to deploy as much photographic experimentation to "Area 51" as possible. This image fuses multiple techniques including: long exposure captures, long exposure moving camera shots, still time lapse exposures, multiple lenses (24mm to 14mm) & filters (in camera & post processing), day to night photography and panoramic high resolution stitching. And of course, I stayed out a little late and got lost. Eventually, as I started to plan how I was going to remain a captive of the night until daylight returned, I barely caught a faint glimpse of moonlight reflection off of something shiny in the distance - My vehicle, definitely alien to this area!