Black and White Bentonite

This is bentonite clay. Bentonite is basically volcanic ash that was mixed with water to create a mud. This formation was formed when the area was a lake. In time the lake drained and the formations began to erode into the amazing castellated hills that you see here.

This landscape is a perfect example of what a back and white photo begs to be, in my opinion. With the mare’s tail clouds against a deep blue sky and the towering, eroded hills below it, textures fill the frame. The contrasts go from bright white to completely black in the shadows of the cracks in the clay. The texture of rocks fill the flat foreground.