Environmental Portrait of a Ferocactus

[pluton]

Desert season arrives in North America.  An attempt at an impression of what I remember it looked like in the Turtle Mountains, southeastern California, February, 2014.  D800E/28mm

[Hugh_3170]

Keith, it is very pretty as presented in its habitat.  However I would sure hate to come into contact with it.  Thanks for sharing.

[Jakov Minić]

Ferocactus and I will meet one day. i will capture it up close and then I am going to invert the colors

[Akira]

The peculiar cactus is nicely presented here.  Thanks, Keith, for sharing!

Ferocactus and I will meet one day. i will capture it up close and then I am going to invert the colors

Nah, you won't focus it properly.   

[Erik Lund]

They look funny, great shot

[elsa hoffmann]

I like and also the fact that you were "lucky" enough to get good sky & clouds

[pluton]

Thank you all for your comments.  This type of cactus is commonly called a Barrel Cactus.
Hugh, The one of the common names for one of this cactus' smaller relatives is 'Horse Crippler'.
Jakov, I have no doubt you will have fun exploring all the sharp, pointy and painful devices that the desert plants employ in self-defense.

[Bill De Jager]

Keith, that's a wonderful shot of my favorite cactus species.  While the spines appear formidable they are actually far less of a threat than those of cholla cactus and many others.

[pluton]

Thanks Bill.  The Chollas are considered to be the most dangerous to man and beast.

[David H. Hartman]

What about truck tires? What's the most dangerous?

[Frank Fremerey]

Hi Keith! I guess this is pretty much how the scene looked like to the bare eye. Yet. When I look at it I feel it should be more "pumped", more "dramatic" ... this is how Photoshopping has spoiled my visual expectation. May I?

[pluton]

Frank, I didn't see your post until today, 6 days later.  You are welcome to create interpretations.  I will see this later on a good monitor.  I remember that I was worried about 'jacking up' the color too much when I PP'd it the first time.  Amazing how much detail in the clouds was reclaimed...from a JPEG!

[pluton]

What about truck tires? What's the most dangerous?

Chollas are claimed by some people to have taken out vehicle tires, but they must have been P-Series* passenger car tires.
 I always try to avoid driving over them out of concern for the plant, not the tires.
Since all "off highway" drivers should be traveling only on pre-existing roads/trails and not cross country, the likelihood of a vehicle tire colliding with any cactus should be very small.  One can sometimes encounter them at the edge of the road, while turning around on a narrow path, etc.
*"P-Series" officially means 'Passenger car', but it may as well stand for 'Paper thin".

[Erik Lund]

The original is just perfect as it was, only thing could be a slight crop to bottom of the image,,, Would make it less top heavy,,,

[pluton]

The original is just perfect as it was, only thing could be a slight crop to bottom of the image,,, Would make it less top heavy,,,

Good observation.