Death Valley National Park is one of the larger National Parks, sprawling over 3.4 million acres—the largest national park in the Lower 48 states. It is a remote park, located on the far eastern edge of California, with a small area tipping into Nevada. It’s remoteness and size has long held my attention, and it remains one of my favorite parks. Over the years I’d visited, I developed a fascination for creating one certain photograph—and to spoil the surprise and suspense immediately, I did. But I’m going to make you wait until the very end of this story to see that result.
I’ve written about Death Valley National Park before in The Playa. That was a marvelous adventure, and one I thought long and hard about recreating just for the joy of it. But I was on a different mission, so focused on creating the vision I was after.
In reality, I had a couple of goals in mind. The first was exploring more of the park, so let’s concentrate on that one first. There are a couple of paved roads in the park, one more or less leading from east to west, or west to east if you prefer, that carries most of the park’s traffic. It leads to the most popular areas, including Furnace Creek, which is the heart of Death Valley.
Here, you’ll find everything you might desire. Camping, hotels, and the assorted supply and gift shops. I spent a few lazy afternoons here waiting. I’ll admit that sitting on a bench under a palm tree, while eating an ice cream cone in Death Valley is one of those surreal experiences I won’t forget for a long time, if ever. It is a scientific fact that Ice cream tastes a thousand percent better under a palm tree.
The paved roads also extend to the very popular Badwater Basin, which we’ll revisit shortly. But I was keen to explore more of the less-traveled areas, and so I left the pavement and headed out into the wilds of the park.
Out on the western edges of the park, you’ll find some of the best Joshua Trees anywhere in the west. A park ranger told me, and believe them, that the Joshua Trees here are larger and healthier than those in Joshua Tree National Park. And after seeing them, I believe it.
It took a while to reach them by way of the dirt roads, but the effort was well-rewarded. I wasn’t in any hurry, either, preferring instead to stop, explore and see what wonders are hidden from view.
The trees in the densest area were every size, and sprawled absolutely everywhere. Unlike a traditional forest, however, Joshua trees do not grow close to each other, so the “forest” is a far more spread out than you might expect.
This photograph illustrates how many trees there are. And for Joshua trees, they are enormous indeed. You can tap/click on the photograph for a larger view. I’ve been to Joshua Tree National Park and marveled at those trees, but after seeing this hidden gem, I totally agree with the ranger: these trees are magnificent.
Everywhere I looked there were more and more trees, each more oddly shaped than the last, and I could have spent days here wandering and exploring. And in fact, I almost did. But I had something else to create so I kept to my primary goal.
As an aside, one fun surprise at the edge of the Joshua forest was a small cabin with an outhouse tucked down a very short side-path. The cabin is well-known, but it was the outhouse that caught my eye. There is something about the entire scene that captured my attention and delighted me.
And no, I didn’t use the outhouse. It scared me to even open the door, frankly, and I decided that was more adventure than I was looking for. Some things are just better left unknown.
But, I digress from my goal, which lies back on the eastern side of the Death Valley. I was looking to go deep into the night skies, and especially during the winter months.
The Milky Way is the faint band of light that we can see from Earth, and is one arm of our galaxy. Best of all, it is full of stars—so many, in fact, that we can’t see them all, nor even make them all out. The center of the Milky Way is one of my favorite photographic targets, and one I seldom miss a chance to photograph. But the Milky Way offers more than just the core.
As the seasons change, so do our views of the Milky Way. Usually, the Milky Way is photographed from spring through fall, since that’s when the core is visible. But the winter months offer a different, and unique view—this is what I was truly after on this adventure.
I wanted a wide, open expanse, and what better place than Death Valley? Here, with some of the darkest skies possible in North America, I had the best opportunity to photograph the night skies without any light pollution. There were two photographs I wanted to create, and, remarkably, both worked out.
The first one I wanted to create was at Zabriskie Point. I’ve been here many times during the daylight. Zabriskie Point, in fact, showcases a remarkable sunrise. But I knew that it would take on an entirely different look at night. I couldn’t wait!
The day offered the perfect set up for the night. There were no clouds at all in the sky, and the forecast said the night would be clear. I waited anxiously through the day, hoping the forecast would hold it. It did. The day was windy, too, which threatened to become a problem, and I was also hoping the forecast was wrong about the wind speed. Alas, it was not, and the winds were indeed problematic for me.
I don’t know why, but lately the winds seem to follow me around. No matter what the forecast says, the winds swirl around me, pick up dust, and threaten my photography. Perhaps I was the God of Winds in a former life? I really need to find a way to make peace with them, though. One of these days, I will. I hope.
Into the dark of night
I scouted around as the sun was setting and worked out exactly where I wanted to be, then began the vigil. The sun set, the sky remained clear, and the winds continued to blow. This was going to be a long, cold winter night in the desert. There was nothing for it, except to bear it out and hope I dressed warm enough. I was, but not by much.
It isn’t the cold that is the problem, really. It’s the standing still in the cold that is difficult. If I was moving from here to there, then my body heat would keep me warm. But standing there, in the cold and the wind, quickly saps whatever heat you might have had, and there’s no way to gain it back save by shuffling around. But you can’t go too far, meaning you can’t generate much heat. And the result is you just end up cold. It is a feeling I am all too familiar with.
As full darkness set in, I began working on the photograph. The familiar daylight scene transformed into one of mystery, and the sky shown bright with stars. I was able to bring out some structures seldom seen. We are used to seeing the sky full of stars, but the heavens contain more than stars. There are also vast emission nebulas, normally not visible to the naked eye. By using a modified camera and some careful processing, I brought these nebulas out.
Zabriskie’s Night is the final result. The constellation of Orion is setting over Zabriskie Point. And we can plainly see the reddish hues of the emission nebulas, and especially the large arc known as Barnard’s Loop. To me, this represents years of thought and planning and having everything come together into one mystical photograph is the culmination of all my effort.
This area of the sky, only visible in the winter months, is one of my all-time favorite parts of the sky. I adore looking at it, staring at, and into, it. Every time I am outside and Orion is visible, I stop and look at it in wonder. To be able to create this photograph, then, at one of the most iconic locations in any National Park, is truly a dream come true for me.
I was fighting with the wind far more than I cared for, but eventually, I won out. Normally, some wind isn’t that big of a deal, but at night, it complicates matters considerably. I need longer exposures to image the sky and the slightest movement of the camera, no matter how tiny, will spoil the photograph. Dead calm is the ideal situation and gusty winds the worst. This night the winds were blowing steadily, which complicated things, but I was able to overcome them. Whew.
I really need to figure out how to come to terms with the winds.
I planned this photograph for years. And now, at least, I completed it, and it looks even better than I had imagined it would.
But, there is more to accomplish! There’s another photograph to bring to life.
And for that, it’s time to return to Badwater Basin.
Death Valley’s Badwater Basin has exactly what I wanted—a wide, sweeping and interesting foreground combined with dark skies. As Badwater Expanse illustrates, the salt flats of the dried lake bed are fascinating. During periods of heavy rain, a lake forms here. As it dries, it leaves behind hexagonally shaped patterns of salt ridges which stretch into the distance. During the day, this makes for fantastic photographs, but at night, it takes on an otherworldly feel. I could hardly wait.
Once again I watched the forecast which said clear skies are likely. And once again, it was supposed to be windy, but with luck it wouldn’t be quite as bad as at Zabriskie Point. I waited non-too patiently for the sun to go down.
It did, eventually, although it seemed like it too forever to do so. It was breezy, to be sure, but not nearly as bad as it was at Zabriskie Point. As the full dark of night settled in, I set about to create a broad, sweeping panorama of the winter Milky Way in ideal conditions.
There’s a lot going on in Badwater Radiance. I was careful to make sure we could see the basin itself. The distant mountains are in shadow, but that was by design. And the night sky! Here, up above, we can see countless millions of stars, the gentle arc of the Winter Arch and even more of the fabulous emission nebulas.
All told, there are hours and hours of work, and years of planning, to create Badwater Radiance, but it is the photograph I was hoping for.
It was difficult to pack up my gear at the end because I didn’t want the night to end. And once I was packed up, I just stood there, enjoying the stillness of the night and the glory and magnificence that is the Winter Arch of the Milky Way in Death Valley National Park.
Bring the Adventure Home
You can purchase, and fully customize, Badwater Radiance and Zabriskie’s Night. You can also purchase Zabriskie Point, too.
If you don’t see an option that works for you, contact me. There’s lots of options to create the perfect piece just for you.
More Adventures
You can also read the adventure of when I visited Death Valley’s Racetrack.
