Desert Gold Wildflowers in Death Valley
Spring turns the barren landscape of Death Valley into a colorful oasis. Wildflower carpets cover much of the valley, adding visual interest to many otherwise bland compositions.
If you ever wanted to visit Death Valley, spring is the right time for it. Depending on the amount of rainfall during the winter, the number of flowers will vary, but you will always find some flowers to enhance your shots.
Best Time and Location
February to April
Wildflowers bloom at lower elevations in the valley.
Most flowers flourish along Highway 190 between Stovepipe Wells and Ashford Mill, south of Badwater. The Panamit Valley, the Road to Scotty’s Castle and some northwestern slopes (Echo Canyon, Titus Canyon, and Artists Drive) are also excellent places to look for flowers. I shot the photograph above along Highway 190 north of Furnace Creek.
Desert gold, golden evening primrose, some cacti and phacelia will be blooming at this time of the year.
April to May
Some wildflowers are in the valley with most color above 1,000 to 3,000 feet.
You can find flowers between Furnace Creek Wash and Death Valley Junction, between Mormon Point and Shoshone, Scotty’s Castle Road, Ubehebe Crater and Daylight Pass Road to Beatty as well as the lower elevations of Emigrant Canyon road.
You can expect lupine, desert trumpet, joshua trees, purplemat, and golden evening primrose.
May to June
The flowers have disappeared from the lower elevations, but the cacti and brushes at elevations above 3,000 feet are in bloom.
At the higher elevations of Emigrant Canyon Road (around Skidoo, Harrisburg, Wildrose Station, Charcoal Killns)and Highway 190 and the road to Lee Flat, joshua trees are your best bet.
Expect joshua trees, brittlebush, rabbit bush and some daisies and lupine to bloom.
How to photograph Wildflowers in Death Valley
Macro Tips
Use a macro lens and carefully set your camera on a tripod to steady your shot. Use a small aperture to increase depth of field.
The close focus combined with the focal length of your macro lens often results in very shallow depth of field. Focus on the feature (leaf, blossom …) closest to your camera since out of focus foreground elements are often more distracting than out of focus backgrounds. Make sure your most important subject is closest. Place it in one of the power points (e.g. rule of thirds) to create a strong composition.
Shoot at different focus distances and use a stacker like Photo Acute Studio, CombineZM or Helicon Focus to increase depth of field.
Use diffusers and/or reflectors to create the perfect lighting conditions. Use half-translucent wax paper or low quality laser printer paper if you do not have a diffuser and use aluminum foil or white paper or even white clothing as a replacement for a reflector.
Landscape Tips
Mustard Canyon with Wildflowers
Wildflower carpets look better from a distance. It is pure joy to have colorful patches enhance an already great picture. The desert gold greatly enhances the picture above. Orange and blue are complementary colors, which creates a harmonious yet contrasting look. Yellow works almost as well.
Cashier Mill
If you approach the carpets, they often fall apart into single specimens that are not as attractive from at close range.
I do not have the patience and enthusiasm for macro photography, but I love to use flowers to enhance my compositions. In the picture of the cashier mill, I used the red flower as a point of interest.
According to the Golden Rule, which was popular during the Renaissance, the most important area of an image is near the bottom right corner, about one fourth up. Since we “read” a picture like a paper, from the top left to the bottom right, we end up and often spend the most time here.
The flower really did not want to go there naturally. I felt like a contortionist hunkering down with my camera. In the first shot I took, the flower was on the left side. In this photograph, I was at a much higher position and I had to get into an uncomfortable position to take the photograph in this manner.
It is not necessary to know all these different rules of composition. Just be playful and try different things. You will naturally gravitate towards the most pleasing compositions after a lot of practice.
If it is windy, consider a close-up shot with a long exposure to create motion blur on the flowers. Wait until sunset or until after dark if you cannot slow your camera during the hard daylight.
Equipment
- Macro Lens
- Tripod and Cable release
- Normal Lens
- Diffuser and Reflector
- Macro Flash and/or Handheld Flash Unit
- Flash Diffuser
- Polarizing Filter
- Kneepads, a blanket or some foam for kneeling
Fees
To enter Death Valley National park, you need to pay the fee at any of the self service machines or show your park pass at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center where you can also ask about current conditions.
Close Locations in Death Valley
- Badwater
- Badwater Basin
- Zabriskie Point
- Dante’s View
- Furnace Creek
- Mesquite Flat Dunes (near Stovepipe Wells)
- Mosaic Canyon
Close Locations outside Death Valley
- Rhyolite Ghost Town
- Goldwell Open Air Museum
- Rhandsburg Ghost Town
- Trona Pinnacles
- Ballarat Ghost Town
- Kelso Dunes (Mojave National Preserve)
- Pisgah Crater
Useful Resources
Death Valley Wildflower Report
Subscribe to my feed and be the first to learn about the secret places to photograph.
Check the links in the resource section for current conditions and inspiration.
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3 Comments
Very interesting. I am waiting on that book! I have discussed the possibility of a big sweeping trip that would include flying into Vegas and driving to the Grand Canyon, through Death Valley and couple of other places before ending up in Monterey (taking about two weeks). And flying out of San Francisco. Only problem is, it would have to be in the Fall.
By the way, are your landscapes HDR? They certainly look that way. Beautiful.
Hello Ed,
thanks for your encouragement. I have a bunch of articles of Southern California coming up.
Stay out of Death Valley during the summer. If you cannot go now, go in November when tourist traffic has died down.
I am hesitant to release an ebook prematurely. I figure I want to offer a complete package. It takes some time to write and research everything there is about a location. I also wish to include more tips, better maps and some extra locations so that the book is really worth some small fee I am going to charge for it
The images are NOT HDR, but I see why you may think that. I boosted local contrast on the clouds via some quick curves tweaking in my RAW converter, nothing special really.
Unlike others, I only shoot RAW when I cannot fit shadows and highlights into the dynamic range of my camera and only when I feel it helps the image.
Once again, breathtaking images! I especially like the first one with the great clouds. You are really knowledgeable as well as a wonderful photographer.