I tend to spend almost all of my time in shooting in Saguaro West. I just like the views much better on the western side. I've photographed there a lot and I know the area well. It's always very interesting to me how the changes in the sun angle throughout the day tend to change the 'look' of a Saguaro cactus in a photograph. It's the way light reflects off the sort of semi satiny 'skin' of the cactus. It's also apparent in the angle of the shadows along the verticle ridges of the cactus.
After shooting in Saguaro I drove to Joshua Tree National Park near Palm Springs, California. I had never photographed Joshua Tree and I found it quite interesting. The two main natural features in the park were 'of course' the Joshua Trees and the very interesting rock formations. After shooting there for a couple days I finally narrowed in on an area called 'Intersection Rock'. It offered some great looking Joshua Trees and large 'very cool' rock formations.
Like almost always, I'm shooting very early...normally in the park and ready to go just before dawn. Joshua Tree was no exception. And good thing that I was...the first full day that I shot there a major Pacific storm was blowing in and by about 10:00 AM it was pouring rain and the dry washes were filling with water. On the second day that I shot dawn was perfect...but by a little after 12:00 noon it was snowing like crazy! I was quite surprised to be standing in Joshua Tree on March 18th with huge snowflakes coming down everywhere. Fortunately, I had the shot that I wanted by about 7:30AM.
Below is a photo of the Saguaro and Joshua Tree signs and a photo of me in the Joshua Tree snow and wrapping up a shot near a rock formation.
