When Arnie and I came into Death Valley for scouting, we stopped at one of the lesser-trammelled canyons.

It provided lots of variety and views, plenty of places to hike up for our mountain goats, and different textures.

Arnie threw in a Machiavellian touch. This time, we had the participants, mostly alumni, take turns leading and making the decision of where to stop. Not only that, but the people in that car had to say why they had selected the location and what people should look for, just as Arnie and I do. It put the pressure on them, as they didn’t want to pick a bad spot for their fellow photographers, many of whom have become friends in our workshops.

We reminded them that we had several cars and that there had to be enough room, not only for everyone to park, but on a narrow, one-lane road, place for other visitors to the park to squeak by.

The idea was to get them to really see as they drive in their travels. In our workshops, they rely on Arnie and me to find what we feel are the good locations for shooting.

Except for one stop where there was a four-foot ledge that would have been challenging for many in our group to scale, they did really well. And in this case, the lead car elected to move on when I tactfully asked where they suggested we access the hills!

Of course, we occasionally flashed our headlights when we thought they had missed a good spot.

For some, the terrain was challenging. For others, they kept finding more and more to photograph.

I climbed one hill to help a couple of our participants and found this scene. I loved the way the white settled into the chocolate-colored rock that is so much a part of this valley. It reminded me of some animal nosing its way up the mountain.

One of the frustrations about any location is that one simply cannot be in all places when the light is prime. One does the best one can and plans on returning, either at the same time or at the other end of the day.

We had to drag our group away. There was a lot of imaging to do, photographs to put on sticks for the student gallery, critiques to be thoughtfully done. One of our group had to leave sooner than he expected, so we wanted to make sure his images were shared with and critiqued by the others.

For the afternoon shoot, we went along Artists Drive. It is one of the iconic locations, but the light does not last long. Too early, and the light is too harsh. By the time the sun is low enough for our taste, it is only a short time before it disappears behind the mountains.

Of course, there is an afterglow that is beautiful. I showed those who were interested how to make a panorama. Have I had time to put it together? Not yet!

It was a great day, and we stopped in Furnace Creek for dinner before heading back for imaging time in the Saloon at Stovepipe Wells. Tomorrow will be another early start.

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