Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light on the Red Cathedral and eroded terrain at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph was made at what may be the most famous location in Death Valley, the overlook area at Zabriskie Point. The photograph does not include the famous view of the spire of Manley Beacon, which is just out of the frame to the left in this image. Instead, the photograph focuses on the “Red Cathedral,” a ridge to the right of Zabriskie that rises above the rest of the surrounding eroded hills, is a darker and reddish color, and presents a deeply eroded face.

It is not an easy subject to photograph, and I still have some additional ideas on how else I might approach the feature as a subject. Exposure is a challenge when shooting the Red Cathedral. At first, as light comes to other nearby areas, this feature remains dark. When the sun does finally arrive here – as it is in this photograph – it rakes across the foreground gullies, brightly illuminates the light-colored ridge to the right, and picks off a few small areas of the Red Cathedral while leaving others in deep shade. To add insult to injury, there is a good chance that a photographer will be set up in a position that eventually gives very flat front lighting to the ridge. I may this exposure very shortly after the sun hit Manley Beacon and just as it was starting to light up the foreground gullies and small hills.

Related: See my extensive posts on Photographing Death Valley

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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