Recently I went on a road trip through parts of Utah, Arizona, California, and Nevada. We traveled about 1800 miles in 4 days. During part of the trip we traveled through Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve, California. These areas are both known for their Joshua Trees, and I really wanted to get some photos of the trees silhouetted against an amazing sunset. Driving down a two lane highway in the Mojave National Preserve the sun began setting and the light was just beautiful. It was the beginning of the golden hour and I was hoping for a great sunset. We pulled off the road and crossed the road, over some railroad tracks, and hopped a barbed wire fence.

Photo #1 - 6:56 PM

Photo #1 – 6:56 PM

Light is getting interesting but is pretty dull right here. Couldn’t isolate the tree from the foreground as much as I wanted. Background is cluttered with electrical poles and railroad signs.

Photo #2 - 7:00 PM

Photo #2 – 7:00 PM

Moving positions and looking for a better tree I found this one. Taken only minutes after Photo #1, the light here is getting a lot more interesting and the sky is starting to show some more color. But this still isn’t what I wanted…

Photo #3 - 7:09 PM

Photo #3 – 7:09 PM

I hiked up a small hill and then shot slightly upward, positioning the camera back towards the sunset and captured this amazing sunset. FINALLY I got the photograph I’d set out to capture. I was able to get a strong silhouetted Joshua Tree against an amazing sunset, minimize the foreground, and keep eliminate the signs and electrical poles that were distracting before. In 13 minutes I went from a really boring photo to something considerably better.


FINAL WORD: Being in the right place at the right time only got me part of the way there. By knowing what I wanted and pre-visualizing the photo I wanted to create I was able to make it happen. I did this by working the subject (the Joshua Trees and sunset), trying different compositions, and finally, using the terrain (the hills) to my advantage.