Photographing Devil's Cornfield in Death Valley National Park

Arrowweed at Devil's Cornfield

What trip to Death Valley National Park is complete without photographing a weed patch?  As funny as that sounds, arrowweed is a fantastic subject matter in the evening hours, catching the sun's soft rays as sunset approaches and turning a brilliant gold while casting its soft blue shadows.

Devil's Cornfield is located along CA190, about half a mile west of the Scotty Castle Road junction.  Parking is limited to pullouts alongside the road.  Though arrowweed is present on both sides of the road, the larger, more interesting stacks are located on the north side of the road, bordering the Mesquite Flat Dunes.

The area is certainly interesting, and offers much wandering and exploring for the "perfect" stack or line of stacks.  Erosion has played a key part in shaping the soil, exposing the roots and shaping the stacks of the arroweed.  Despite this intrusion, the plants thrive thanks to the underground waters of Salt Creek.  Coyotes and other wildlife can be seen the area.

Devil's Cornfield and Kit Fox Hills

As evening light arrives, the arrowweed stacks turn golden and the Kit Fox Hills to the east create a superbly scenic backdrop.  The light on the arrowweed is quick-lived - it changes fast.  Before you know it, they are in the shadows and you find yourself with a smile on your face, having witnessed another fantastic moment in Death Valley, and hopefully having captured the moment.

I arrived to this location with low expectations.  I left thoroughly impressed.  Don't overlook this gem!

Normal to wide-angle lenses best serve this area.  Be sure to bring a polarizer and GND filters if planning to include the Kit Fox Hills in any of your compositions.

More images from this area can be viewed in my Death Valley National Park gallery.

Photographing Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park

Mesquite Flat Dunes at sunrise.

The Mesquite Flat Dunes are often referred to as Stovepipe Wells Dunes due to their close proximity to the town.  They are located about 2.2 miles east of Stovepipe Wells, to the north of CA 190.

The dunes are a popular draw to hikers, photographers, sand dune surfers, and more.  As a result, the dunes can get tracked up in a hurry, much to the frustration of photographers.

Though evening can provide excellent photography result with colorful skies to the north, sunrise is the ideal time to photograph the dunes.  The biggest reason for this is simply the tracks in the sand.  As the dunes are very popular during the day, evening finds the area victim to the evidence of all these visitors.  If you are lucky, overnight winds will erase such evidence, allowing you a fresh start in the early hours.

Sand ripples at Mesquite Flat Dunes

Clear skies at sunrise offer numerous photographic opportunities.  Early light turns the dunes golden, and ripple patterns in the sand are highlighted with shadow definition.  Light is best 15 to 30 minutes after sunrise.

As the sun rises shadows become more pronounced and one can play with negative space between the dunes and line patterns.

I recommend finding an area not recently visited by others, and looking for a prominent spot with lots of texture and offering views of higher, more prominent dunes for you subject matter.  This will give you lots of options and you will be surprised at how quickly time flies!

As the sun rises higher in the morning sky, you can wander down into the depressions and find other interesting compositions.  Rock "tile" and mesquite trees and offer additional elements to play with.  They can be an additional element to your composition, offer isolation opportunities, or in the case of the rock "tile", offer very fun abstract possibilities!

Mesquite Flat Dunes in spring.

In contrast to clear mornings, overcast light flattens out the dunes and will diminish the contrast that defines shapes, texture and patterns.

Be sure and keep your eyes open for critters and animal tracks.  Sidewinder, deer and coyote tracks can be fun to encounter and offer interesting photo ops.  Lizards are also a common sight.

All lenses should be made available during your visit to the dunes.  Normal range and wide angle lenses will allow you to play with the ripple patterns in the sand and add depth to your composition.  Zoom lenses will allow you to isolate distant dunes and work around tracked up sand.  They will also allow you to play with shadows and negative space.

I recommend taking an evening walk to scout the area you wish to photograph, then return in the morning to shoot.  Again, cross your fingers for overnight winds to erase the previous days tracks.  When planning your visit to the dunes, try to time it after a windy day or night, or even during a windy morning (make sure to protect your camera).  My visits were during calm conditions and I found the amount of tracks to be extremely frustrating.

Death Valley National Park Gallery

Early light on Manly Beacon from Zabriske Point

I've just gone live with my new Death Valley National Park gallery!  This gallery is comprised of images from a trip I did almost exactly one year ago, and includes images from Zabriske Point, Dante's View, Badwater Salt Pan, Devil's Golf Course, Mormon Point, Ashford Mill, Artist's Point, Golden Canyon, Furnace Creek, Mesquite Sand Dunes, Stovepipe Wells, Devil's Cornfield, Fall Canyon, The Racetrack, and more.

Puting this gallery together brought back a lot of memories for me, and I hope you find an image or two that touch you or maybe kindle your desire to visit this wonderful national park yourself.

Sliding rock at The Racetrack

I'll resume revisiting the photography aspect of each destination I visited within the park in my next posts.  If you missed them, you may view my previous posts of Artist's Palette and Zabriske Point.

I wish to take the time to say Thank You once again for your interest in my photography and endeavers.  As always, I am happy to answer your questions - either about photography or helping plan your own visit to any of the wonderful places I share on these pages.