Deserts

Virtual tours and panoramas taken in deserts around the world. Panoramic photos by Will Pearson.

Sunrise at Joshua Tree

Here you can explore a Joshua Tree 360. This was captured at sunrise around the solstice, with the surrounding Joshua trees casting long shadows on the desert floor. Where two deserts join, travellers are met by a landscape peppered with fantastical trees. “Their stiff and ungraceful form makes them to the traveler the most repulsive…
Alabama Hills: Sunset

Having weathered the storm I captured this sunset later on the same day. You can see the stormy clouds over the Alabama Hills in an earlier shot taken from the same location.
Alabama Hills: Thunder Storm

Arriving here after a drive along Movie Flat Road you quickly understand why this area has become a favourite location for many filmmakers. The rugged, barren and geologically diverse landscape can be seen in hundreds of films, from classic westerns like The Lone Ranger to more recent films, including Iron Man and Gladiator. The Alabama…
54.4˚C at Trona Pinnacles

I knew it was going to be a hot day photographing the Trona Pinnacles in the Mojave Desert, Southern California, but I hadn’t anticipated quite how hot. We clocked the temperature at 54.4C (130 F), only a couple of degrees centigrade off the all-time world record temperature (56.7C or 134 F), registered at the Furnace…
The Devil’s Cornfield, Death Valley

Death Valley is a place of extremes. In the USA it holds records for these extremes: the hottest place (134°F / 56.7°C), the lowest place (86m below sea level), the darkest night sky in the USA. Since being designated as a National Monument, Death Valley has grown to 3.4 million acres, and is one of…
Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point is a dramatic natural feature in Death Valley, California, formed by sediment from an ancient lake, long since dried up. Named after the vice-president of the Pacific Coast Borax Company, it was made famous as the location of the love scene in Antonioni’s 1970 film, Zabriskie Point.
Black Rock City, Nevada

Each year, people from around the world gather to ‘burn the man’ deep in the Nevada Desert. A temporary city – Black Rock City – springs up to house all of these people, who are all exhorted to ‘leave no trace’ on the desert landscape. The Burning Man Festival is loosely, a festival of art,…