The Radavist

“Palo Verde Oasis” is the third layout of the Radavist 2024 Calendar. It was shot with a Canon R5 and a Canon f2.8 24-70, in the Mojave Desert of CA. Photographed by John Watson.

“While Palo verde trees (Parkinsonia aculeata) don’t thrive in the northern reaches of the Mojave Desert, there are stragglers present thanks to migratory birds passing the seeds. On a recent trip out to Los Angeles, Cari and John came across this beautiful scene…”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2024 – March. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

The mobile background this month is a vertical crop from the same evening. Click here to download March’s Mobile Wallpaper.

John and Cari have spent countless hours in the Mojave Desert and cataloged desert tortoises, Gopherus agassizii, on a few trips, for the Mojave National Preserve. These unique desert reptiles were officially listed as a threatened species in 1990. While the herpetological organizations studying them have made great progress in educating the public about their presence and role in the Mojave Desert, there is still a way to go.

What if, to protect one species, you had to slightly annoy another? Watch this exciting documentary project from The New Yorker.

*Editorial note: picking up a desert tortoise is highly illegal. In doing so, the animal will often release its urine and water stores and will often times die afterward due to dehydration. Many desert animals get their water from eating plants in the form of terrestrial cacti and flowers, which can take weeks to gather after leaving their winter burrows. If you encounter a desert tortoise crossing a road, be it a dirt road or highway, please give it space and allow it to make the journey by itself…

Assisting with habitat restoration in the Mojave Desert, learning about the history and ecology of the region, and three nights of camping…

“Mojave” is the first layout of the Radavist 2023 Calendar. We’re now in our tenth year of doing calendars! It was shot with a Sony A9ii and a Sony 70-200 lens in California’s Mojave Desert. Photographed by John Watson.

“Spend enough time in dry and arid places and you’ll welcome weather events. As a storm system rolled in where John and Cari were camping for New Years Eve, they received quite the light show…”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2023 – January. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

The mobile background this month is a vertical crop of this photo. Click here to download January’s Mobile Wallpaper.

We’ve always got something fun cookin’ up over here at the Radavist and recently, Minneapolis-based artist Evan Weselmann reached out asking if we need any illustration work. Once seeing his portfolio, I knew exactly what we could task Evan with. I sent him our Death Valley bike tour photo gallery from 2019 and requested that he take inspiration from that. He delivered an insane graphics package and this illustration is but one tile in his multi-page package. With cooler temps on the way, I thought it’d make sense to ask y’all what you’d like to see from us this fall/winter season. Long sleeve t-shirts? More Nalgenes? You know what products we stock, so let us know what you want and we’ll do our best to deliver. You can ignore the background image, I just wanted to ground the drawing a bit.

We’re all looking forward to the ‘Desert Trip’ capsule collection! Drop us a note in the comments.

This is the twelfth layout of the Radavist 2019 Calendar, entitled “Mojave Mob” shot with a Canon 5D and a 70-200 lens in Death Valley National Park, California.

“Our trip through Death Valley National Park was one of my favorite stories of the year and with it, came many memorable moments, but this one image really resonated with me, even after editing, culling, and selecting hundreds from over a thousand photos. Enjoy…”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right click and save link as – The Radavist 2019 Calendar – December. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

The mobile background this month is a layered blue hour ombré fade, complete with the lilies of the desert, the joshua tree. Click here to download December’s Mobile Wallpaper.

This is the second layout of the Radavist 2019 Calendar, entitled “Inyo Ascent” shot with a Canon 5D and a 100-400mm lens in Keeler, California.

“We’ve got a project coming up this month, that’s all about going up, up, up, into the Inyo Mountains. Here’s a teaser, about halfway up a 5,000′ ascent. It keeps going after this!”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right click and save link as – The Radavist 2019 Calendar – February. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

The mobile background this month is of one of our favorite set of switchbacks in California. Can you name that climb? Click here to download February’s Mobile Wallpaper.

… and the long road ahead.