A Night at Joshua Tree National Park

Looking at these shots from my evening at Joshua Tree National Park, I am grateful I pushed myself to darkness when my body was calling for a motel room. I had originally planned to camp near Mojave, where I spent the day in the sun. But the forecast for the evening was cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. A night shoot would be unsuccessful–and so the prospect of setting up camp to be stuck in my tent as it rained was not attractive.

The events that followed highlight why I operate best with some time to make a plan. Haphazardly, I drove to the Arizona border. I needed gas and the prices around the remote I-40 were absurd, as in $8.21 a gallon. So with hours before darkness and no decided plan of action, I went to where the gas was like $4 cheaper a gallon. Even though my plan was to head west to Los Angeles the following day, I went East, thinking that I could just camp near there, outside the clouds of the Mojave Valley. But then I changed my mind and headed back west, deciding to camp closer to my path west the next day. So I went west, not realizing how light polluted Barstow, CA would be. Oh and along the way I decided I’d just get a cheap motel there, then hunt for darkness. But it all was a bust. Frustrated, I finally decided to head to where skies were reliably dark: Joshua Tree National Park. To follow are the shots I got during my impromptu overnight stay.

The town of Joshua Tree throws a lot of light to the park. But I was happy to see the Milky Way.

Deciding on a location to hang for awhile. This was still too light, so I drove deeper into the park.

With or without you, Joshua Tree

Now I am at my spot, an empty campsite at the Jumbo Rocks Campground. It was perfect. Quiet, dark, secluded and surrounded by fantastic rocks. Here you can see some of the Delta Aquariids meteor shower.

There were considerable clouds, but they were on the move.

Because it was so secluded, I changed into my space costume. One of my goals for this desert trip was to improve my technique on these wacky photoshoots by trying a stacked image… because I am always blurry trying to hold position for long exposure time. But it was already too dark to go that route when I first arrived. So I worked on focusing better…

I was happy that these images are sharp.

Very pleased with these two shots. The rest are horrible.

Next was a time lapse sequence, the result of which is the star trails image up above. During the hour of shooting, I laid on the campsite’s picnic table–staring at the stars, pleased as punch I had made a successful night shoot out of the earlier chaos. Surprisingly, my iPhone was able to capture the stars. There are my feet in the air.

And there I am laying on the table… very flattering

By the time I was done with my goals, it was very late/early. So I stayed overnight in the park. Since I did not reserve the campsite I was hanging out in, I decided to find a different spot. I also wanted to be by the Joshua trees for sunrise, which was only a couple hours away.

In the morning I would shoot more of the trees, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, bask in the choices you make that contribute to magical experiences.