Death Valley weekend

Eldon Shea · November 23, 2015

Spent the weekend of the 14th at Death Valley N.P. This is the perfect time of year there. Daytime temps in 70s to 80s depending on elevation, and nights down to only the low 50s. Some areas of the park are closed due to recent flooding, but luckily the areas I like best were fine.

Comments welcomed.

Bryan

1. Sunrise, Mesquite Dunes

2. Dunes hardened by recent rains

3. Racetrack Playa

4. The Big Squeeze
Titus Canyon

5. Polychromatic
Titus Canyon

6. Milky Canyon
(My first attempt at light painting. Had to make due with a small LED flashlight I had in my Jeep.)

7. Stormy Exit

Stumblebum · November 24, 2015

#1, #2 and #5 rock for me! Cheers!

ian408 · November 24, 2015

Very nice. Especially your parting shot.

roaddog52 · November 24, 2015

Wow! A great set of images.

thumb These fine images really helped cinch the fact that I have got to make a point of traveling to Death Valley for some light chasing time.

Phil

Sam · November 24, 2015

Really nice images!!!

Hows the road to the race track? Better, worse or the same over time?

Sam

Thelensspot · November 24, 2015

Bryan, very nice set. I enjoyed them all, especially 1, 5 and 7! Well done.

Regards,

Wayne

Eldon Shea · November 24, 2015

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate complements, but suggestions and criticism are OK too. I'm re-posting the final image after removing the distracting roadside markers. I left the original above. This is better.

Sam the road to Racetrack Playa was quite bad for about a mile, where the road had become a streambed. It is very rutted and littered with large rocks. High clearance vehicle is definitely required. However it looks like it won't be that difficult to fix. I assume they are waiting until the winter rains are over, because it is passable. The rest of the road was better than I remembered it. I was told that the road to Eureka Dunes is nearly impassible in places even with a serious off road vehicle. I didn't have time to try it anyway.

Bryan

kdog · November 28, 2015

Good work here, Eldon. I like your two panos a lot.

Funny to see the Racetrack so pristine of footprints, tire-tracks (sic) and of course rocks and tracks. Like a fresh palette waiting for some rocks to paint it (and sadly for vandals to deface it.) Thanks for the road info.

joe-bob · December 10, 2015

All awesome shots.

Eldon Shea · December 10, 2015

Thank you for the encouragement, KDog and joe-bob. LA is less than 300 miles driving distance from four amazing National Parks, including Death Valley, but I don't visit them enough. I'm setting a goal of shooting each of them twice in 2016. Haven't figured out a way to get my motorhome to Channel Islands NP, so will settle for Carrizzo Plain and Pinnacles National Monuments instead.

Hikin' Mike · December 10, 2015

Great series. Love the textures and I think you did a great job with the light-painting!

Eldon Shea · December 10, 2015

Thanks, Mike. I appreciate the vote of confidence on the light painting. It's amazing how much light a little led flashlight powered by 2 AA batteries can put out over the span of 30 seconds. What looks like car headlights on the road is not, it's from my little flashlight. It was black as pitch in that canyon and I had to light the ground so as not to trip.

Bryan