Apogee Photo Magazine

THE CACTUS FLOWERS OF JOSHUA TREE 

by John Gerlach

Cactus flowers have always been enjoyable subjects for my camera ever since I first traveled to desert country around 1980. Cactus flowers tend to be large and beautifully colored in shades of yellow, red, and even lime green. Many species are very stiff which makes them more difficult for the wind to blow around. Since most cactus flowers resist blowing in the wind, they're much easier to photograph than other wildflowers that tremble at the slightest breeze.

Joshua Tree National Monument during April is a super place to go for cactus flowers. About 16 species of cacti are found within the park boundaries and many of them bloom during April. My favorite species to photograph is the Mojave mound cactus variety that is found within the monument. There are a number of varieties of mound cactus around the southwest, but the one in Joshua Tree is the prettiest that I have seen. This species grows in the higher elevations around 4,000 feet and avoids super hot low desert. It's blooming period lasts a couple of weeks when the spectacular mounds of crimson flowers adorn the desert. In Joshua tree, I would say peak bloom is around April 21. They are fairly easy to find if you slowly drive the paved and dirt roads that lie just west of Jumbo Rocks campground. Just look for red patches out in the desert. These mounds tend not to grow near others, so there is typically 50 to 100 yards between mounds although I have found areas where they grew closer together. Often I have seen hummingbirds feeding on these red blossoms.

In this same area, the pink blossoms of beavertail cactus can be found by searching the rocky hillsides. The pads of beavertail cactus look like they have no spines. It's an illusion. The pads are covered with tiny spines that you can hardly see. Don't touch this plant unless you wish to be pulling spines out of your hand for the next two weeks. Don't be like me and find out the hard way! The pink blossoms of beavertail are my second favorite flower and photograph very well on Fujichrome Velvia.

Just be careful, rattlesnakes are common in the park and active during April. We found several speckled rattlesnakes and a few sidewinders during our two weeks in the park. Most of the snakes were sunning themselves on dirt roads within the monument. By using our diffuser and being careful, we photographed them easily. Rattlesnakes are protected as they should be so don't harm them. Just be careful about accidentally stepping on one.

Other cacti that were coming into bloom during April included prickly pear, barrel, and teddy bear cholla. The prickly pear and barrel are more common in the lower desert near Cottonwood Springs where they are common in the rocks along the washes. The best place to photograph the lime green flowers of teddy bear cholla is at the CHOLLA CACTUS GARDEN. Extreme Caution! The spines of teddy bear cholla are the most fearsome critter I have ever had the misfortune of running into. Do not touch this plant! It bites back hard. The spines are sharp and hooked so they're difficult to remove from your body once embedded!

Most cactus flowers don't last very long. Many blossoms only open for one day and that's it. Fortunately, each clump of cacti tends to have many buds so they bloom over a fairly long time. Most cactus flowers are only open during the day although Mojave mound cactus blossom do remain open at night. This means most cactus flowers aren't open in good early morning light. Instead, you have to wait till at least mid-morning for them to open. That usually means you have to photograph them in harsh sunlight. Don't! The contrast in the light will make your photos look terrible. Instead, you must use techniques to control the harsh sun. The Photoflex diffusers I recommend work tremendously well on cactus flowers. The 44 inch white on white diffuser works great for softening the harsh direct sunlight. Just make sure you position the diffuser so the sunlight falling on the flower and it's background are both diffused. If you only diffuse the light on the flower, the background is generally far too bright. You must control the light on both subject and background. Occasionally you may get lucky and have a bank of clouds roll in during the afternoon, but don't count on it. My experience in Joshua Tree during April is bright blue skies day after day with no clouds at all.

My 200mm Nikon macro lens works great for cactus flowers because it gives me both working distance so I can stay out of the cactus spines and a narrow angle of view which reduces distractions in the background. However, when photographing sections of the Mojave mound cactus with many blossoms open at one time, I prefer my Canon 90mm tilt-shift lens so I could shoot at a 45 degree angle to the plane of the cactus flowers and tilt the lens a few degrees to get the photo sharp edge to edge. This would not have been possible by just stopping down a regular non-tilting lens to f-22.

Another effective way to photograph the flowers in bright sun was pick an angle where the flowers were sidelit or backlit. Then, we used either a gold or silver reflector to kick light into the shaded areas of the blossom. This worked well because the natural backlighting made parts of the blossom glow because light was coming through the petals while the reflector opened up the darkest shadows which reduced contrast in the flower so it would record better on film.

I have often recommended a white nylon diffusion cloth for photographing wildflowers under bright sun conditions. However, photographing cactus flowers is a place not to use it. Invariably, the diffusion cloth will touch the cactus and become entangled in the cactus spines. Once you pull the cloth off the cactus, you are certain to have a number of cactus spines embedded in your cloth. You're certain to find these spines with great surprise later on.

Joshua Tree is a fantastic spot any time of the year, but especially so during April. Every nature photographer owes it to themselves to discover the magic of Joshua Tree. A number of campgrounds are found within the monument, but they are fairly rustic and it's very difficult to find a campsite on weekends. However, plenty of motel rooms are available in nearby Twenty Nine Palms. A newly constructed RV Park which allows camping is nearby. It's called the 29 PALMS RV RESORT. (800) 874-4548. We highly recommend it. Information regarding Joshua Tree is available by contacting:

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL MONUMENT
TWENTY-NINE PALMS, CA 92277.

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