Life on the Playa

Alvord Desert, Oregon

This photograph shows an avocet egg resting directly in the rocks of the Alvord Desert playa. I made this image while stranded on the dry lake bed after a heavy rain left the ground impassable for more than five days and my rig sunk in the mud.

During that time, I spent a lot of hours walking the playa, moving slowly and carefully. That’s when I came across this nest. Avocets and other wading birds will often build simple nests directly in the rocks, relying on camouflage rather than structure. From a distance, the eggs disappear completely into the surrounding stone.

Up close, the colors were incredible. The egg carried a subtle green hue, mottled with dark markings that echoed the textures around it. I chose to bring that color forward in processing, emphasizing what first caught my attention. The result leans slightly surreal, and that was intentional. There was something about the egg that felt prehistoric, almost like a relic from another time, and I wanted the image to lean into that sense of otherworldliness.

Context and Landscape

The Alvord Desert is an ancient lake bed, flat and exposed, with very little separating life from the elements. When rain comes, the playa transforms quickly, becoming slick, soft, and difficult to cross. When it dries, it hardens back into stone.

Despite how harsh the environment appears, birds return here year after year. Avocets, in particular, rely on the openness of the playa to protect their nests. There are no trees. No cover. Just space, stone, and distance. Survival here depends on blending in rather than hiding.

It’s a reminder that even in places that feel empty, life is working quietly and deliberately.

Creation Notes

This image was captured on location while I was immobilized on the playa after heavy rainfall. The egg and surrounding rocks were photographed in place, with no disturbance to the nest. I watched the parents for days before and after and they quickly realized I was no threat, often scavenging on and around my truck. I quickly became just another member of the playa's ecosystem.  

Color and contrast were pushed in post-processing to emphasize the natural tones of the egg and to bring forward the unusual, almost unreal quality of the scene. The photograph reflects both the conditions of the landscape and my creative mindset at the time.

This image sits somewhere between documentation and imagination, rooted in a real moment, but shaped by how it felt to be there.