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Desert Photography

Photographing the desert southwest can be tricky. If you follow the basic rules, however, the difference in creating a simple, but elegant photo can be astounding.

Author: Mike Cavaroc

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Photographing the desert southwest can be tricky. If you follow the basic rules, however, the difference in creating a simple, but elegant photo can be astounding. As always, the basic rules still apply, but if there's one rule that applies more than any others, it's to avoid shooting in the middle of the day. Ignore it, and your photos will turn out as flat as the desert landscape in front of you. Take a look at some of your favorite professional desert shots and pay special attention to the lighting. You'll notice long extended shadows and a warm light reaching in the photo.

The thing that you really want to keep in mind while out in the desert is that you're taking a 3D space and converting it to 2D. This holds true no matter how expensive the camera is - it's just the nature of photography. What makes understanding that transition difficult sometimes is because when you see it with your own eyes, you've got two different eyes creating the depth.

The camera, however, only has one and it'll show once you're back on the computer or when you're looking at the print. Where'd all the depth go? It got compressed into that one eye that the camera has. Now add into it the fact that the sun was overhead and all the shadows were going straight down, and you're left with a shadowless, shallow photo that becomes hard to appreciate.

A few simple steps though, can easily fix this. First, wait until the sun is at a different angle than overhead. You'll hear people say it over and over again: a couple of hours around sunrise and a couple of hours around sunset are the peak times to be doing photography. The sun is at a position where it can illuminate the colors hidden in nature, while at the same time casting long shadows that add drama and more interesting compositions. Take another look at those desert photos. You can now see how they were able to capture that drama. Photography in general is all about lighting. Take advantage of that and the impact your photos have will skyrocket.

The next step is another simple one, but for some, may require a bit of effort. Never just get out of your car and stand there and take a picture. The same goes for a desert hike or walk. In order to add a unique perspective, climb up a nearby hill, or get down to a coyote's, or even a lizard's perspective. Either of those will give you a different point of view that people can be more interested in because both angles can give you a bigger sense of depth that a standard person's height cannot. For a little extra impact, try placing an object in the foreground of your landscape. If you're down on the ground, this should be pretty easy.

For example, if you've got a baby cactus in front of you, make sure you've got the whole thing in your image. Don't crop it out as the closest object to the camera will be the main attraction in the photo. If you've climbed up a hill, try finding a plant or an interesting rock to put into the foreground. People typically make the best foreground objects though because it not only gives a good sense of scale, but also gives the viewer something to relate to. So if you're with a friend, put him or her into the foreground of your photo and put that dramatic landscape behind them.

Using these simple techniques, you'll be amazed at how much your photos will pop!

Now are there exceptions to the rule? Absolutely. There always are. The biggest exception to shooting in the middle of the day in the desert is on an overcast day. Take for example, the above panorama. I had actually shot a very similar photo in the middle of the day on a clear day that wasn't nearly as interesting as this one. It was as simple as a change in the weather that created a much more dramatic landscape. On overcast days you can throw all the rules about lighting out the window.

With the clouds blocking out the sun you're in a completely different type of light. Rather than the sun beaming down overhead creating harsh shadows, it's now penetrating through the clouds just enough to create a soft light on everything practically eliminating harsh shadows. The added bonus in this type of environment is you'll frequently get sunbeams shining through the clouds which creates a whole new type of drama in itself. A lot of times these are caught best in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, with roughly 300 days of sunshine a year, don't plan on catching one of those overcast days in the desert.

Another exception is in extraordinary rock formations, such as a slot canyon in this case. Only in the middle of the day will you see beams of sunlight shining through the top. These beams not only create unique experiences, but also help illuminate the rocks into different colors that would otherwise appear dull.

Generally speaking though, if you're planning a typical day out in the desert, it's best to keep in mind those first two rules. Follow them even loosely, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you're capable of.

About Author

I moved to Arizona in the Fall of 2004, still new to photography and more of an indoors person. I quickly became an avid hiker and adventure seeker and have always had my camera with me. I recently began documenting some of my excursions to add more content into my site.

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