Shooting Death Valley

After being inspired at the recent North American Nature Photography (NANPA) Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, myself and several fellow photographers took a quick side trip to Death Valley National Park. If you talk to most people, they have the impression that Death Valley is always hotter than an oven. On the contrary, while we were there in late February nighttime temperatures were in the low 30's and the days warmed to the 60's and 70's. So it was not too hot. In fact, it was to our good fortune that there were snow capped mountains throughout the area to include in our photos.

This was my first visit to Death Valley and we only had two mornings and one afternoon to shoot. We stayed in a hotel in Beatty, NV which is a short drive to the eastern part of the park. Getting up each morning at 4 a.m. we grabbed coffee, donuts and whatever else would serve as breakfast and headed off to our chosen shooting spot.

The first spot was the Mesquite Dunes. Fortunately, we had a little time to scout the night before, because our first trip there involved a wrong turn. I have seen incredible photos from there and I hoped to score a keeper shot. Death Valley like most of our national parks has seen a dramatic increase in visitation. Mesquite Dunes, near Stovepipe Wells is a popular spot and there were many, many footprints in the dunes. Getting away from most of the prints required hiking about a mile into the dunes. Being in the desert means harsh sunshine and the soft morning light does not last long. I have a couple of photos from the dunes that I like including this one:

Mesquite Dunes

 Luckily, I found an area of the dunes without any nearby footprints.

After spending about an hour and a half in the dunes we headed out for a real breakfast. Restaurants in the park or surrounding the park are few and also not exactly five star establishments. But we were hungry and we found a nice breakfast buffet.

Our next location was Badwater Basin, listed as 283 feet below sea level, and known as the lowest point in the United States.  Here pure white salt pans create an other worldly scene. These geometric shapes can fill with water if there is rainfall, and we just missed such an event by a week. Reflections from the water filled pans can be dramatic. Regardless, I did manage to capture a few nice images of this most unusual landscape. Here is one from Badwater Basin.

Badwater Basin

And another that shows the snow capped mountains in the distance.

Badwater Basin and Mountains

Surreal landscape isn't it!

Working on a good tip we made our plans for Zabriskie Point for sunrise the next morning. We also did some scouting to find the location and timed our travel back to our hotel. I might add too that hotels are not exactly plentiful and again the one we stayed in was only adequate.

Zabriskie Point is perhaps one of the most iconic locations in the park. Sunrise lights the eroded foreground mountains and the even taller mountains in the distance that aim for the sky. The light that morning was phenomenal. Intermittent clouds added detail to the sky while diffusing the light for what seemed like a long time. There were so many things to point my camera at, but this photo perhaps captures the scene best:

Zabriskie Point

I even liked the scene so much that I had to try something in black and white.

Black and White Zabriskie Point

We saw little in the way of wildlife, the only exception being a coyote dining on the side of the road.  

All-in-all it was a great introduction to a special place. It was just too short and before we knew it we had to return to Las Vegas and planes to take us home. While in the park I learned of Darwin Falls which believe it or not flows year around. Also, some of the early wildflowers were said to be blooming in Coyote Canyon. The famous sliding rocks of the racetrack and even taller dunes on the other side of the park were enticing, but there was just not enough time. 

Just a couple of notes on equipment. My primary camera was still in the shop and I was fortunate as a Nikon Professional to get a loaner. Also, my 70-200 mm lens which has been a workhorse lens for over 10 years finally refused to focus after on our last visit to Badwater Basin.  Neither the auto focus or manual focus worked. 

There is just so much more to Death Valley than the little that we saw and captured. Perhaps there will be another visit someday.  Thanks to Ragnar Avery and Kika Tuff for the great company on the trip. It was nice to share the experience and all of us enjoyed the adventure. 

One final note, my upcoming wildflower workshop scheduled for May 11 & 12 in Cadillac, Michigan will be an exciting chance to savor ephemeral spring flowers in the beautiful northwoods. Too, we will be capturing shots we will forever enjoy. To sign up online got to https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79135_79219_81143-489192--,00.html