This screensaver self installs by clicking on the Install Icon and simply
following the prompts. Select this as
your “Default” screensaver.
The screensaver can be
viewed in several different ways depending on the settings you choose in the
“Settings” box. To access the “Settings” box: follow this path: Desktop>My
Computer>Control Panel>Display>Screensaver. This opens a window in
which at the left center you find a drop down box in which you may pick the
screensaver of your choice. If the box shows:
“The Desert”, (as it will if you have designated this screensaver as
your “Default” screensaver during the set-up procedure,) then next to this
drop-down window appears a “settings” check box. Click on this.
In this window you’ll see
“General,” “Image” and “Transitions.”
Start with “General.” Decide whether you want
the images to show small titles or not. If you do want titles, choose placement at the top of the image. (If you
choose the placement at the bottom, they will be superimposed on the Photographer’s
logo, which has been embedded randomly at left or right bottom of each image.)
Under “Order” choose sequential or random. The screensaver images
have been loaded in a specific sequence to give optimal visual transitions. If
you select 'Random' order, this built-in selection is lost, with unpredictable
(but possibly exciting) outcomes.
Under “Image” we suggest you check box # 2: “enlarge to fit current screen size.“ The
image will fill the screen.
Under “Transitions” there are some 40 different transition effects to
choose from.
When you open the
screensaver for the first time, only these transition effects operate randomly: Sweeping Blinds Wipe, Venetian Blinds Wipe,
Dissolve Wipe and Sparkle Wipe. These are the effects the Photographer finds
pleasing. However, you can experiment with different effects if you wish. To
select these effects, start by checking the “Select None” box and then check
the individual boxes of your choice back on.
Do not just highlight the names - make sure you leave a check-mark in
the white square box.
To see more of Peter Van
Rhijn's images or to order prints, digital print files or other
screensavers: please visit Peter's
website at www.naturephotos.com
Other screensavers
available are: Cool Waters, Wildflowers, Mountain Magic, Shoreline Dreams, and
Intimate Plantscapes (close up Photography.)
Future projects include Autumn Scenery
and Forests.
System Requirements
Windows
95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP
Video Display of 256 or
more colours (24 bit colour recommended)
Minimum 800x600 Display
Setting (1024 x 768 preferred)
Please respect the Photographer’s
copyright by refraining from attempts to copy, multiply or resell images
contained in this screensaver.
“Turret Arch.” is an image for which I take little creative credit. It was taken in Utah’s “Arches NM”. The spot where I placed my tripod to take this picture is a small ledge on the side of a large rock. The surface of this little ledge is worn smooth due to the perpetual presence of photographers, videographers, moviemakers and their tripods. However, no collection of desert images is complete without it. The fact that I captured it with some snow at sunrise makes it at least a tiny bit unusual. The small arch in the distance is Turret Arch. Utah’s famous “Delicate Arch” is located about a one hour hike from this spot which is situated, I suspect, at roughly 7000 feet elevation on the Colorado plateau near Moab.
“Golden Canyon.” is taken from the Zabriski Point view point. Zabriski point is located in the Death Valley (California) area. It consists of an area where a soft mud-like rock has been severely eroded by the (rare) rainfall, creating an exciting visual display where photographers can have a hay day. An abstract shot of the same area entitled Zabriski Point, follows later. A movie has been named after this viewpoint making it quite well known.
“Death Valley.” is one of my very favourite images. It’s a simple dunes composition in the Death Valley dunes. The dunes in Death Valley are fairly low and ‘manageable’ for photographers who wish to hike into the dunes to photograph them intimately. This is not the case with Great Sand Dunes National Monument where the dunes are many times higher and tougher to get around in.
“Desert Bloom.” was taken in the desert near Lake Powell. The time of year was May. Elevation was probably between 5000 and 6000 feet. The shot tells a story of toughness in the face of very adverse conditions. From a visual photographic point of view this is an interesting combination of a pattern shot mixed with some leading lines, created by the cracked earth.
“Slick Rock.” This was taken in the Coyote Buttes area. Unknown until fairly recently, this area gained fame due to the work of local photographers who started publishing their stunning images. This area is located roughly on the border of Utah and Arizona, in a bowl-shaped valley between steep mountain ridges. The bottom of this bowl, dry most of the time, sees brief flash floods in the summer months. These brief flash floods create the sensuous shapes in the soft sandstone that can be seen here. What is most amazing about the area is the small scale patterning of the soft sandstone, which seems to reflect a very regular pattern of events on the ancient ocean floor, during days when this area was located 10.000 feet lower than at the present.
“Red Canyon.” This image was taken very close to well-known Bryce Canyon, Utah, along the side of the road. (There are many other canyons in the southwest-US desert which are named “Red Canyon.”) Close to sunset this becomes a very impressive scene and the small remnant of snow in this image creates a lucky leading line, which takes the eye by the hand, and takes it to the peak of the rock.
“Slick Rock and Snow” and “Coyote Buttes Winter.” These two images are also from the Coyote Buttes location. I visited the area twice, once in May, and once around Christmas, when these were taken. The snow, (enough to create interesting and unusual photographs but not enough to prevent me from moving around or to cover all the interesting rocks) was a very lucky circumstance. I do however recall a few anxious moments when slick rock and slippery snow conspired and nearly launched me, along with camera and tripod, into a ravine.
“Slick Rock Detail.” This shows another detail of the slick rock area with striking symmetry as its main visual asset.
“Bryce Canyon Detail.” A close up of the sunlit Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, south-west Utah. Bryce Canyon is an Amphitheatre-shaped edge of a mesa where the soft reddish sandstone has eroded in a dramatic landscape of thin tall hoodoos. Heaven for tourists and photographers, but as farmer/pioneer Bryce said a long time ago: “One hell of a place to lose a cow.”
“Zion Wall # 1” and “Zion # 2.” Both details of the sandstone walls of Zion N.M., an impressive canyon carved out in the (in that location) 10.000 feet high Colorado plateau by the relatively small Virgin River.
“Bryce Hoodoos,” and “Bryce Winter # 1” are both images of the Bryce amphitheatre proper. The first image was taken in May, the second around Christmas. In January and February, cross-country skiing in Bryce Canyon is apparently quite common. The photographer has not seen Bryce in deep snow yet. Bryce is situated at 8000 feet elevation.
“Bryce Canyon Winter # 2,” and “Bryce Canyon Winter # 3,” were taken from “Bryce Point” one of the several canyon viewpoints, but instead of photographing the canyon straight ahead I took these two images of the scenery at a 90 degree angle to my right. The scenery shown is not that of the canyon proper but immediately adjacent and below the canyon. This was where the magic unfolded.
“Zabriski Point.” This is the abstract image of the mud at Zabriski point, which I referred to earlier.
“Great Sand Dunes National Monument,” Colorado. This is a view of the sand dunes as they are seen from the highway that leads to them, if the visitor arrives (or leaves) about an hour before sunset when the low angle of the light creates the nicest texturing on the dunes. The dunes are located in Southern Colorado. Part of the visual appeal of the dunes is their soft sculpturing in front of, and in sharp contrast with, the jagged peaks of a Rocky Mountain range.
Peter Van Rhijn, ANEC
Toronto, Canada
December 2002