I discovered the existence of the Valley of Fire in Nevada completely by accident. I never knew it existed until a photo from this location popped up on my Google+ stream a few days before going to Utah. I decided to stop by on my drive home. It’s about 45 minutes to an hour out of Las Vegas. I wish I had known about this place before. I go to Vegas regularly, and it would be nice to shoot here regularly. There is so much to see and do here. I highly recommend stopping by if you’re in the area.

On this trip, we didn’t have time to explore the Valley since it was just a one-hour pit stop. We ended up stopping by two locations. The campgrounds have all these little caves and pretty cool Cabins. It took me a while to figure out how to find the Fire Cave. I had no idea where it was and ended up asking a ranger. 

How to get to the Valley of Fire Fire – Glow Cave

If you’re heading there from the Las Vegas route, The Valley Fire Cave will be located on the first turn-off to the left right before the Campgrounds. It’s a dirt road. You’ll go about 100 yards up a little hill, then the road dips down. Find parking. The cave will be to your right, behind the first large rock structure. 

I was looking for the Fire Cave from the east entrance. And couldn’t figure out how to find it. But if you come from the east, it will be your last turn-off after the campgrounds on your right. It’s pretty easy to find once you’re in the right area. 

To get a nice low-angle shot, you’ll probably have to mount your camera upside down. Hopefully, your tripod will let you do this. You can also use a steady bag if you own one. 

I imagine the best time to shoot for a single shot exposure would be early, at 9:00 am – 10:00 am, depending on the season. I shoot this at around 2:00 pm. You can see the direct sunlight hitting the base of the cave, which worked fine for me since I was going for an HDR look. 

HDR Photo – The Fire Cave

Three-shot exposure using the Sony A7r and the Canon 16-23mm f2.8L II lens. With the Metabones Adapter. Processed with Photomatix, Lightroom, and Photoshop.

Camera: Sony A7r
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II – Metabones adapter
ISO: 100
Aperture: F16
Shutter: 1/10, 1/100, 0.8