Mojave
In the American west there four types of desert; Chihuahua, Great Basin, Sonora and Mojave. Each has its own distinct flora. The Mojave is noted for the Joshua trees which are actually a form of Yucca. This high desert covers portions of four states; California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
This photograph is a good representation of the region. It appears to be an image that was converted to black and white inferred. I think this conversion was a good choice. It adds a grittiness to the scene. Note the hills in the distance, there must be a cloud over the left side of the image that causes them to go from dark to light. In the sky there is a jet trail that appears like a shooting star. Some may object to this detail but in this case I feel it works and adds a little to the story.
There are some observations I would like to point out. For some reason the dark section of sky has pixilated in the transition from light to dark. This may have been caused by over processing of the image in the computer. Also in the sky we have the jet trail almost perpendicular and just below it there are some faint trails that you may want to remove and keep the spy as clean as possible. Along those same lines; there is some sort of a blemish in the sky between the trunks of the subject.
One final observation, the tip of the top of the plant are almost tangent to the edge of the frame. You may want to take a look at cropping in a little to prevent this issue.
I feel the concept of this image is very good and if a quality print were made it would be a stronger image.
Click on Image 
February 15th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Technique: This IR technique, involves one learned a while ago, by saturating the greens first, and converting to monochrome, in the channel mixer. If you work with the sliders in PS just right, you produce a good representation
of silver-gelatin BW.
Compositon: A similar Joshua tree, can be found in many books on photography, and I was motivated by the recent copy of LensWork, Editor Brooks Jensen, No 73 Nov-Dec 2007, on page 56 that contains a beautiful litho of a Joshua Tree, from the China State Weapons Testing Grounds (a restricted area of the Mojave). This book provides many wonderful black and white images, and may be purchased at Barnes and Nobles Bookstore.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I believe that’s China “Lake”.
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake or NAWS China Lake (ICAO: KNID, FAA LID: NID) is an airborne weapons testing and training range operated by the United States Navy and its contractors. It is located in the northeast of California’s Mojave Desert in northwestern San Bernardino County, southwestern Inyo County, and northeastern Kern County.