Death Valley Photography Workshop

Getting to the Workshop

We will be lodging at the Oasis Ranch in Furnace Creek. Death Valley is located in the south-eastern portion of California, sandwiched between the Sierra Nevada mountains and Nevada. The closest and easiest access to the park is from Las Vegas, which is about 2 hours east of the park via highway 160. Alternatively, Death Valley is about 5 hours north of LA via highways 395 and 190, or approximately a 9 hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Day 1, Thursday

Participants arrive in Death Valley and are free to explore the park on their own. Before sunset we will meet to introduce the group, talk a bit about the workshop, and give a brief overview of Death Valley and its unique wonders. Then we’ll head out for our first sunset shoot.

Day 2, Friday

Up early to catch the sunrise at Badwater Basin, followed by a morning shoot with the marvelous textures of Golden Canyon. Then we’ll take a break for lunch. We reconvene in the early afternoon to shoot the warm light on the Mesquite Sand Dunes. An hour or so before sunset you’ll see the dunes come alive as the low light from the setting sun creates a vivid display of patterns and textures. We’ll stay at the dunes for sunset. Depending on conditions and the group’s energy level we will head out again after dinner to experiment with moonlight photography, star trails, and light-painting. Or we may stay in and talk a little about post-processing.

Day 3, Saturday

Up early to catch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point, followed by a morning shoot in the badlands below. Both of these places display an awesome array of folded earth patterns. After that we’ll once again take a break for lunch and to recharge our batteries. Then we’ll head out to a little-known seasonal spring to catch the sunset. After dinner we’ll head back out for some more fun light painting at night photography at Natural Bridge.

Day 4, Sunday

On our last day we’re up early again to shoot the sunrise in Cottonball Basin, an amazing area full of textures and patterns. Then we head back to Furnace Creek in time for breakfast. We typically return to FC around 9 am, early enough to eat breakfast and pack up before check out.

This Death Valley photography workshop is organized to take advantage of the best and most interesting locations the park has to offer. However, the exact itinerary and places we visit may change depending on the group and weather conditions. Please note that at this time we do not visit the Racetrack or the Eureka Dunes because of their extreme remoteness, along with the additional levels of support and permitting needed to visit these wilderness areas. However, we are hoping to add these locations to the itinerary in the future.

Weather

Our Death Valley photography workshop is conducted in fall and winter in order to take advantage of pleasant temperatures and a greater chance of dramatic skies. From November through March Death Valley typically enjoys beautiful weather, with daytime highs in the 70’s and 80’s and nightly lows in the 40’s. However, the desert climate can often be surprising and it’s not unusual to see temperatures as high as 90°F or as low as 32°F. Also, we may visit Dante’s View, which is 6,000 feet above the valley and can be extremely windy and cold. Don’t be surprised to encounter below-freezing conditions here. In addition, Death Valley gets most of its tiny amount of precipitation in the winter, making these months the best for interesting photography.