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Since I'm just about completely uninterested in trying to photograph there in the intense heat and dryness, my season in DEVA extends from sometime around mid-November through the very beginning of April. At either end of that period (e.g. late November and early April) you can encounter days that seem quite summer-like and it can even be hot. I've seen 90+ degree temperatures in early April. (I've also been snowed on in DEVA in April...)
To my way of thinking, as a photographer who prefers cooler weather and more interesting skies there, my "best" season is more or less December through the end of March. (Practical considerations still often take me there during the first week of April, as will be the case again this year.) Some of my favorite photographic experiences in the park have been in the December-January time frame.
The biggest surprise for most visitors at this time of year is that it can be surprisingly cold at times. If you get out of the valley proper and out into the surrounding areas, especially the mountains, it is not at all unusual to see snow. And even when it doesn't snow, the desert climate supports wide temperature swings, which lead to some extremely cold nighttime temperatures.
Last year on one visit I experienced literally freezing temperatures in the Stovepipe Wells to Furnace Creek area on several mornings during a cold snap. A bit later the same season we were photographing high in the Panamint range... in falling snow! That was the first time in my life that I ever photographed desert wildflowers (and it was quite a bloom!) in falling snow! On another morning I was out in the far northern backcountry of the park on a winter day and I recall checking the temperature a few hours after the sun came up... and it was still in the lower 20s.
As to workshops, I think you are correct that the "workshop season" tends to come at two times in the Valley. One is during the heart of winter, when there may be fewer of them, but some of them are operated by (in my experience) some very serious and qualified photographers. (Check carefully though — not all workshops are "created equal.") The second is around the time of the potential spring bloom, and they tend to run in the "spring break" season, from perhaps mid March into the first part of April.
Finally, if you are new to Death Valley you can get to an awful lot of interested stuff without the help of a workshop. If your main reason for looking to a workshop is to have a guide to features of the park, the workshop might be less critical than if your goals are instructional. You will perhaps miss some things that you might have seen with the workshop, but you'll still see plenty of wonderful stuff. You can increase your success if you do a bit of reading ahead of time. It also helps to think a lot about the nature and direction of light in DEVA, and plan your shoots accordingly. The valley runs roughly north/south, and the implications of that for shooting various locations are probably obvious. Also, it isn't a bad strategy to do your shooting in deep and narrow canyons a bit later in the morning or earlier in the afternoon, reserving the true golden hours for subjects that are more out in the open.
Good luck!
Dan
Edited on Feb 24, 2015 at 02:58 PM · View previous versions
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