Giant thumbprint!

When taking pictures, the time of day is critical. When we explored Death Valley’s various canyons, it became obvious that we were there when picture taking was crummy. When the sun is high in the sky, so many textures vanish due to straight-on lighting. Most photographers won’t take a picture after 10 in the morning or before 4 in the afternoon because the light is so flat and uninteresting.

So that’s my excuse for the picture above, taken in Titus Canyon. The area shown is about 3 feet or one meter wide. You see the ripples? They are the fossilized ridges of a giant’s thumbprint in mud! That guy’s thumb must have been the size of a Volkswagen! Nobody believed me, and Luke even referred to a guidebook that said the ripples were caused by a gentle breeze blowing over a shallow sea in Precambrian times. Buncha hooey, sez me. We could probably pick up a DNA sample to prove my case.