Photographing the desert landscape is not always easy. Sometimes it can be downright dangerous. Even more so when walking in a garden of Cholla Cactus (aka jumping cholla) after dark. Because those spines have a way of finding their way into you when you least expect it. And they don’t tickle. In fact, it usually takes a pair of pliers to remove them.
But they make for a beautiful subject!
Especially during the rising of the rare Super Moon. This past March, a friend and I headed into Joshua Tree National Park for this special occasion. And while the vast openness and lack of light population was perfect for such an event, the storm rolling in was not so perfect. Normally during a Super Moon, the moon will appear unusually large just as it comes over the horizon due to its closeness to the earth. Unfortunately our view of the moon rising was blocked by the clouds rolling into the desert.
When I set out to photograph the Cholla Cactus Garden at night, I envisioned photographing the cholla has it was backlit by the full moon. The clouds diffused the moonlight a little more than I would have liked so I had to help out a little. And I was able to do that with a Mag Flashlight and a diffuser.
You can’t see me but I am there hiding behind the Cholla, mimicking the moonlight with my Mag Flashlight. I used my teardrop diffusing reflector to lessen the harshness of the light. It took several tries before I achieved the look I was going for. Not to mention impaling myself a few times by stepping on a few stray chollas discarded on the ground. Ouch! At least I was carrying my pocket Leatherman tool with me.
