Zabriskie Point

chrismoore

I can't think of a better way to watch the sun rise over this iconic location in Death Valley. 3 shot pano. More to come.

coscorrosa

Those are some crazy awesome clouds and you did a great job capturing them. Wow. I agree, Zabriskie at sunrise rarely disappoints. Well done!

When was this taken? I was in Death Valley Oct 5th through 8th but I obviously missed this sunrise.

chrismoore

coscorrosa wrote:

Those are some crazy awesome clouds and you did a great job capturing them. Wow. I agree, Zabriskie at sunrise rarely disappoints. Well done!

When was this taken? I was in Death Valley Oct 5th through 8th but I obviously missed this sunrise.

Thanks, Ron. I was there this past weekend, this sunrise was Sunday morning. i have to say it was the only time the 3 days I was there that I saw clouds in the sky.

Eia

I think the colors are awesome. The softness of the whole picture, the curves of the hills - sure is ironic given the name.

hawkeye978

Beautiful color and cloud details. The light in the foreground is wonderful, too. I can't wait to see more.

dlplumer

On my short list. Exquisite.

Andy

This is seriously good

kwalsh

Nice sky and colors! Mother nature provided just the right clouds (an infrequent occurance in DV).

Minor crticism, at that spot pointed in that direction it is usually best to be a little daring and setup closer to the edge. The foreground intrusion on the lower left is distracting and compromises the compositional flow of the wash. You can extend your front tripod leg to the max and reduce the rear legs to perch the camera on the steeper ground. Of course in a shot like this the focus is primarily the sky, but nonetheless as SWAT team members say in the movies, "Check those corners!"

Very nice!

Ken

P.S. Of course you might have put the foreground there on purpose specifically to cut off the wash, in which case ignore my suggestion!

alexf

Very nice shot!

Tango

very sweet color, this Image is portfolio bound. (as if it was needed to be said)

chrismoore

thank you everyone for the kind comments. Mother nature always impresses, even in the desert. Regarding the comment about the corner- I did experiment with cropping it out but when comparing the two I felt it added depth more than distraction so I kept it. I really could have gone either way. There was one more shot worth saving I took around the same moment facing a little more right. I like the sky more in the first one, althouth I really like how the light is faintly illuminating the mountains on the right in this one.

wfeller

It gets no better than that. Excellent!

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kwalsh

chrismoore wrote:

Mother nature always impresses, even in the desert. Regarding the comment about the corner- I did experiment with cropping it out but when comparing the two I felt it added depth more than distraction so I kept it. I really could have gone either way. There was one more shot worth saving I took around the same moment facing a little more right. I like the sky more in the first one, althouth I really like how the light is faintly illuminating the mountains on the right in this one.

Hey, you've got the best kind of problem, too many excellent shots to choose from. They are both beautiful.

Oh, and as a desert affectionado, I'd amend "even in the desert" to "especially in the desert"

Ken

chrismoore

kwalsh wrote:

Hey, you've got the best kind of problem, too many excellent shots to choose from. They are both beautiful.

Oh, and as a desert affectionado, I'd amend "even in the desert" to "especially in the desert"

Ken

You're right, "especially in the desert is more appropriate" as my first trip to death valley, I was amazed how flat and harsh the landscape is during the day, but dawn and dusk really transform it into a breathtaking sight.

acowan

Zabriskie has got to be one of the best sunrise spots in the West. I'm jealous that you had nice clouds, but that's a great capture.

SteveF

Beautiful image. What good fortune to be there with that sky. And to do a pano was the way to go.

The only thing I thought twice about was the name. Isn't Zabrinskie Point that 'point' on the far right hand edge of the frame that is kind of cut off?

I could be wrong about this, maybe the name refers to the whole area?

kwalsh

SteveF wrote:

The only thing I thought twice about was the name. Isn't Zabrinskie Point that 'point' on the far right hand edge of the frame that is kind of cut off?

Zabriske Point is actually where Chris was standing when taking the photo, the overlook itself. Named for the general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century.

The pointy thing on the right of the photo is Manly Beacon, named for Willam Manly who in 1849 was one of the members of a wagon train stranded in the valley. He and John Rogers traveled 500 miles on foot to San Fernando and back to rescue the rest of the stranded party. A number of features in the area named for them.

Ken

dls

beautifully done. love the colors and cloud formations. looking forward to seeing more!