In search of the simple

Often times we overlook the simple while focusing on the complex.  In landscape photography the challenge is finding the point of interest in the overall scene.  The above image was made in a wonderful rocky landscape of Joshua Tree N.P.  The ground is covered with all sorts of rock formations, giving plenty of opportunities to photograph.  I made this image while hiking a narrow trail through some boulders and nearly missed the abstract pattern within the rocks.  The small ribbon of quartz rock that runs down across the rock layers gives a mysterious abstract quality to the image.  Although I was surrounded by a magical landscape I kept readjusting my eye not to miss the small and simple details that existed within a bigger and more complex scene.