Go Play Outside! 😎
See It: An hour drive northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, you will find another planet. Or at least it seems that way. Everywhere you look at Valley of Fire State Park are fantastic ‘Seussian’* landscapes – one after the other – from the famously striped sandstone “Fire Wave,” near where this shot was captured, to colorful, hard-to-believe-its-real, water- and wind-sculpted rock formations, like “Balanced Rock.”
If you want to get out of your air conditioned car (trust me, you will want to check out these views!), you have to know this place is desert and not for the faint of heart. Bring plenty of water, some snacks, and a good pair of sunglasses; the sun can be very intense. It was an uncomfortable 106°F in the shade (if you can find any!) when I visited in late May 2017. (Local weather history). Also, cellphone service is very marginal in the park, so print out a map before you go. Don’t depend on your smartphone map.
To see where this shot was taken, start by hiking to the Fire Wave. This is a very popular photography location, so you’ll need to start early or stay late if you want shots without other visitors in them. I was at the park entrance about an hour after sunrise and people started arriving at the Fire Wave about 20 minutes after I arrived. Park at Parking Lot #3 on White Domes Road (also known as Mouse’s Tank Road). Cross the road from the parking lot to the marked start of Fire Wave Trail and head northeast down a sandy slope. Follow the marked trail that turns to the southeast over relatively flat terrain to arrive at the Fire Wave in 0.75 miles and about 30 minutes.
After you’ve checked out the amazing Fire Wave formation, look south, across the wash, to the colorful rainbow rock formation just west of the intense red rock area, where “Leading Lines” was captured. Work your way across the wash to the rainbow rocks. There are many amazing colors, textures, and formations all around there, but please be careful, as some formations are very fragile and loose sand can make for slippery hiking. More about Valley of Fire State Park (parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire), Dr. Seuss.
*As in Dr. Seuss, author of numerous insightful children’s books with fantastic illustrations of animals and situations.
Shoot It: This shot was using a Canon 7D (crop factor 1.6), Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 at 12mm and f/10, 1/160 sec, and ISO100 on May 24, 2017 at 8:29 AM. (I would normally have used a circular polarizing filter on this to darken the sky, but it had broken the day before and I neglected to bring a spare.☹️) Basic adjustments were made in Photoshop Lightroom.
Improve It: What problems are you having with your photographs? What do you think I did next to improve the problem photo at the top of this post? Let me know at Inquiries@GibsonOutdoorPhoto.com and I will share some tips to overcome these issues in a future blog post.
Go Play Outside! 😎
-Scott