The Valley of Fire State Park in Overton, Nevada is a quick 55 mile, one hour drive northeast of Las Vegas. I highly suggest making a trip to the park if you find yourself in the area, especially if you are looking for an inspirational place to take pictures.
I was in Vegas for a convention and mentioned to a local friend of mine that was looking for nature scenes to shoot. He told me that I needed to check out the Valley of Fire, saying that the landscape looks like "The Fires of Hell" at sunset. With a description like that, it was not a question of 'If' I would be going but 'When'.
I decided to photograph sunset on my first evening in town and sunrise the following morning. The area definitely presented some really wonderful points of interest and natural wonders and I enjoyed spending several quiet hours in the park during each of the two photo sessions. My images were captured on a Sunday evening and Monday morning in mid-January and the park was not crowded. I basically had the entire place to myself on Monday morning, seeing only one car drive past on the road between 6AM and 9AM. I would have to say that watching this silent sun rise over the hills to the east, slowly giving life and color to the purple, then burgundy, then magenta, then orange and finally red rocks without another soul in sight was the highlight of my trip to Las Vegas. It was one of those rare encounters with nature when one starts to feel as if their footwear might just be growing roots, bridging the gap between oneself and the surrounding desert.
My only complaint would be that there was not a cloud in the sky during the morning shoot, making for some pretty dull above horizon imagery... but hey, we can't always have our 'Fires of Hell Cake' and eat it too!
All images from this photo essay are available on canvas, metal, acrylic and bamboo. Please contact us if you are interested in ordering any images that you see here.
Josh Whalen
