Death Valley Dunes

fmw · Dec 9, 2006

The sand dunes at Death Valley National Park, California.

abraxas · Dec 9, 2006

Hard to get those without them being smeared by footprints. A little different angle than the usual also. Pretty good.

fmw · Dec 9, 2006

abraxas said:
Hard to get those without them being smeared by footprints. A little different angle than the usual also. Pretty good.

Thanks. I shot the dunes from the road - 2 miles away - with a tripod mounted 500mm f4 lens. You don't see this angle much because it is a long way from the road. Glad I had some big iron with me that day.

abraxas · Dec 9, 2006

I thought it looked like it was from the Stovepipe Wells direction. Got some more from DV?

fmw · Dec 9, 2006

abraxas said:
I thought it looked like it was from the Stovepipe Wells direction. Got some more from DV?

This URL should bring up a shot of the entire valley from the lookout point straight above Badwater. Is it diablo point or something like that?

And, of course, the ever popular Badwater

This is at one of the many ruins around the park. I always marvel at the hard time plants have in this area. Zero trees.

Every time I go to Las Vegas for a trade show, I leave a 1/2 day open for Death Valley. It is a spectacular place. I never get tired of it.

abraxas · Dec 10, 2006

Dante's View. The ruins are at Harmony- Mustard Canyon behind the ruins are interesting to drive through. Badwater is looking particularly shriveled.

I try to make Death Valley a couple times a year.

Nice shot on the Dante's View photo.

fmw · Dec 10, 2006

No doubt you know your way around the park. This visit was in late November and it was pretty chilly at Dante's View near sunset. I think it is around 6,000 ft altitude there. I remember I was shaking a little as I made the exposure. I used a 24mm wide angle lens and was afraid I would still get camera shake. I almost broke out the tripod. It worked out OK.

I also noted that the drop from this location to Badwater is greater than that of the Grand Canyon rim to the river. It's easy to lose sight of the scale of things there. Post some of yours if you get a chance. I enjoy seeing the place.

abraxas · Dec 10, 2006

I really like Death Valley, but I'm a fool for the desert no matter where I'm at in it. I've been planning a trip up to Surprise Canyon, a controversial canyon on the other side of the Panamint Mountain range (the mountains on the left of your Dante's View photo) where access rights are being fought over in court. One side wants it closed to motorized use, one side wants to lift jeeps up by winch into it. It is a very narrow canyon, and sure enough, today and tomorrow, the days I'd like to shoot it, it's raining. The canyon is prone to flash flooding.

Photos of DV that I've taken in the last 10 years have been assembled into a somewhat comprehensive/incomprehensible list here:

http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-national-park/

A lot of them are pretty crummy. I have a couple trips I made last spring and winter I haven't gotten to post yet. I'll have to dig them up. I've been trying to focus on land formation and ecosystems the last 3-4 months.

I almost forgot, one of the most excellent things about the park, the people. I really like meeting the people from all over the world there. One 'for instance', last spring, on the ridge that extends away from the Dante's View parking area, I was out taking photos and a couple from Holland came out to see what I was doing. We spent a good half-hour just talking and enjoying the view

LaFoto · Dec 10, 2006

fmw said:
Glad I had some big iron with me that day.

My God! A 500mm lens IS a "big iron" indeed! Can't say I have ever even SEEN one! And an f4 lens that long too boot. Wow.

* I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious *

fmw · Dec 10, 2006

LaFoto said:
My God! A 500mm lens IS a "big iron" indeed! Can't say I have ever even SEEN one! And an f4 lens that long too boot. Wow.

* I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious * I am not getting envious *

Don't get too envious. These lenses are large and heavy. They are hard to control and hard to move around. They are virtually impossible to hand hold. I got mine to do sports photography back when I had a couple of pro sports teams as clients. Here's a shot of the "big iron." The big black cylinder that looks like a trash can beside it is the lens hood.

fmw · Dec 10, 2006

abraxas said:
I really like Death Valley, but I'm a fool for the desert no matter where I'm at in it. I've been planning a trip up to Surprise Canyon, a controversial canyon on the other side of the Panamint Mountain range (the mountains on the left of your Dante's View photo) where access rights are being fought over in court. One side wants it closed to motorized use, one side wants to lift jeeps up by winch into it. It is a very narrow canyon, and sure enough, today and tomorrow, the days I'd like to shoot it, it's raining. The canyon is prone to flash flooding.

Photos of DV that I've taken in the last 10 years have been assembled into a somewhat comprehensive/incomprehensible list here:

http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-national-park/

A lot of them are pretty crummy. I have a couple trips I made last spring and winter I haven't gotten to post yet. I'll have to dig them up. I've been trying to focus on land formation and ecosystems the last 3-4 months.

I almost forgot, one of the most excellent things about the park, the people. I really like meeting the people from all over the world there. One 'for instance', last spring, on the ridge that extends away from the Dante's View parking area, I was out taking photos and a couple from Holland came out to see what I was doing. We spent a good half-hour just talking and enjoying the view

Thanks for the photo tour. I enjoyed it. I used to live in Oregon. There is, or at least was, an area around the Three Sisters mountains called a primitive area. No motorized vehicles were allowed. In fact nothing motorized or electrical was allowed. You could walk or ride a horse. It was pristine. You could get 100 miles from a road and be in places that, perhaps, nobody had ever been. I found some obsidian arrow heads there that had been made by the Indians who knows how long ago. I like the concept of barring motorized traffic from some places. Yosemite would be a good place to start.

abraxas · Dec 10, 2006

fmw said:
Thanks for the photo tour. I enjoyed it. I used to live in Oregon. There is, or at least was, an area around the Three Sisters mountains called a primitive area. No motorized vehicles were allowed. In fact nothing motorized or electrical was allowed. You could walk or ride a horse. It was pristine. You could get 100 miles from a road and be in places that, perhaps, nobody had ever been. I found some obsidian arrow heads there that had been made by the Indians who knows how long ago. I like the concept of barring motorized traffic from some places. Yosemite would be a good place to start.

Sounds really nice. I like the solitude- but I'm finding out that sometimes groups aren't too bad (if done in reasonably small scale). In fact the Death Valley Historical Society is sponsoring a photo workshop in Jan/Feb that I'm planning on attending. I couldn't afford the David Muench trip like I had wanted.

Desert Indians are fascinating to me. I've been attending lectures on desert archeology and been learning more about prehistoric Native Americans in the desert southwest. Love this stuff.

mcktheknf · Dec 10, 2006

Sometimes I feel like the world-traveler, but I've never been to Death Valley and it's only a couple hundred miles north of me. This does it, I'm going there.

fmw · Dec 10, 2006

mcktheknf said:
Sometimes I feel like the world-traveler, but I've never been to Death Valley and it's only a couple hundred miles north of me. This does it, I'm going there.

......and don't forget to take a camera!