One Day in Death Valley

coscorrosa

I was in Las Vegas for a wedding, and had a single day (Sunday) all to myself, and I spent it in Death Valley (my first time there ever, let alone with a camera). I left Las Vegas at 2:30 AM armed with a rental car, a GPS, and my camera, and got to Zabriskie Point well before dawn when it was completely dark. I was alone except for a brief encounter with a coyote who darted away like I caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to.

This was how I spent the day:

* Zabriskie Point at dawn/sunrise
* Sand Dunes early morning (by the time I got there, footprints were already all over the place, this is a location that I need to hit right at dawn/sunrise the next time)
* Dante's View
* Zabriskie (again)
* Badwater (lowest point in North America, salt flats)
* Dante's View at sunset (unfortunately, there was too much cloud cover and the light went to crap)

As I was going from place to place I saw a bunch of spots that I would like to re-visit at different times, and some places I didn't get a chance to visit at all. It's a huge park, even though I restricted myself to a small corner of it.

1.



2.



3.



4.



5.



6.



7. I think these are sidewinder tracks.



8.



9.



10.



11.



12.



13.



14.



15.

CWSkopec

Ron, all of 'em are great, as usual!!

#2 is absolutely gorgeous! And I really like the conflicting patterns you captured in #7! Nice work!

annnna8888

That was one busy day!
Again, a spectacular series! You don't expect us to pick a single favorite, do you? Because that would be plain impossible. I really like the diversity of scenery and the way you brought the most out of photos in post-production, especially the ones in which the light didn't cooperate as much as you would probably have liked. To name a few, I love #3, 6, 12, 13. Can we see some more?

Ana

wfeller

Nice shots. Nice spot on the sidewinder tracks. Looks like you were out after a storm a day or so. Dramatic.

AngryRed

wfeller wrote:

Nice shots. Nice spot on the sidewinder tracks. Looks like you were out after a storm a day or so. Dramatic.

Ron I am really beginning to love your work. It's likely because your recent sets are all places that have special meaning to me.

All the shots are great but I love 3 & 8 and 13 is fantastic.

Beautiful.

bryanj87

Awesome set, as I expected. Those last 2 shots, WOW!!!!

dbd

Re: #7
On #7, canid tracks maybe, for a sidewinder example see:

http://encarta.msn.com/media_701765321_761580729_-1_1/Sidewinder.html

Still a fine image though.

Dale B. Dalrymple

The Curious Camel

Wow, I like 6, 7,8, well, I just love all them. What a wonderful place to photograph. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

g:D

Mikko

Nice shots and it looks like you had some exciting weather.

Travis

Now that is one way to make death look beautiful! Great captures.

redleash

Another fantastic series, Ron. When is your book coming out?

I like 3 and 8 the best but they are all terrific. Very nice use of light and texture throughout.

Lauren

Dogdots

Beautiful photos -- loved the one with the footprints. Looks like you had some wonderful light for your photos.

kdog

Man, what a day you had, Ron! You were a busy boy. Great clouds, despite them messing up your sunset at Dante's. They added a lot to your other shots.

Love the lighting at Zabriske. And your Badwater shot is just super.

Now I need to plan another trip back to shoot the sand dunes. You got some great shots there. Those were the "mesquite" dunes, I think they're called, near Furnace Creek. Right?

Great job on these.

Cheers,
-joel

Doug Solis

I agree with Ana, it’s too hard to pick a favorite. Very very nice series. #3-6 Look like a tapestry of colors and shapes you would find on a quilt.

Doug

coscorrosa

annnna8888 wrote:

That was one busy day!
Again, a spectacular series! You don't expect us to pick a single favorite, do you? Because that would be plain impossible. I really like the diversity of scenery and the way you brought the most out of photos in post-production, especially the ones in which the light didn't cooperate as much as you would probably have liked. To name a few, I love #3, 6, 12, 13. Can we see some more?

Ana

Thanks Ana! Here's the rest:

http://coscorrosa.smugmug.com/gallery/7465953_7X2yi

Except for the sunset, the light was pretty good. Sunrise was fantastic, and the dramatic clouds and skies at badwater were all I could hope for for mid afternoon shots.

coscorrosa

bryanj87 wrote:

Awesome set, as I expected. Those last 2 shots, WOW!!!!

Thanks Bryan, I thought you'd like #14

coscorrosa

redleash wrote:

Another fantastic series, Ron. When is your book coming out?

I like 3 and 8 the best but they are all terrific. Very nice use of light and texture throughout.

Lauren

Thanks! I'll release the book after I retire, should happen in about 35 years :cry

coscorrosa

kdog wrote:

Man, what a day you had, Ron! You were a busy boy. Great clouds, despite them messing up your sunset at Dante's. They added a lot to your other shots.

Love the lighting at Zabriske. And your Badwater shot is just super.

Now I need to plan another trip back to shoot the sand dunes. You got some great shots there. Those were the "mesquite" dunes, I think they're called, near Furnace Creek. Right?

Great job on these.

Cheers,
-joel

Thanks Joel, I agree on the light, it only affected sunset, but was great for everything else. Actually the Sand Dunes could have benefited with less cloud cover / harsher shadows to show the texture, but I'm not complaining, I was very lucky to get what I got for a single day.

And yes, they're known as the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes IIRC (or the Stovepipe Dunes), just past Furnace Creek (instead of hanging a right to Scotty's castle go straight for a little bit and they'll be on the right, there's a lot space on the shoulder to park).

They have a lot more potential than what I showed with these shots, and next time I'm in Death Valley, I'm going to make them a priority (it will help if I go there on a weekday at dawn vs. a Sunday at 11 AM, too many footprints! Also the earlier light will have more dramatic shadows, especially in winter). The cool thing about the Sand Dunes is that it's basically impossible to take a bad composition. Interestingly, it would have been real useful to have a longer lens than 105mm there, when you're on top of one Sand Dune and want to take a photo of another, might have to spring for a 70-200 after all

dseidman

All of these are very well done. My favorites are #6 and #7. Great work!