20090410

Heavy clouds in the AM nixed the sunrise shooting.  We wandered the dunes near Stovepipe Wells and established an excellent spot for a possible sunset opportunity.   By 10 am PST the clouds had began to clear and I was able to have a go at a few IR images.  The shot below, was made looking northward across the dunes to the Grapevine Mountains.  The image was recorded using the Nikon D200IR and the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED at 25mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/30s, ISO 100.

Next, we headed northeast from Stovepipe Wells toward Beatty, NV.  The drive to Beatty gains about four thousand feet in 30 miles.  It’s a beautiful stretch of highway that tops out at Daylight Pass before settling down into Beatty, NV.  Beatty itself is a fine little town, and I could recommend making it your base of operations if you can’t find a place to stay in the Park.

It’s often the case that the drive back from a destination can be more impressive that the outward-bound trip.  This is clearly case with the drive to Beatty.  The views into Death Valley back along Route 374 are spectacular.  After meeting Highway 190 again we headed north.  We first had a look at the outlet of Titus Canyon.  Here we found many excellent cacti and wildflowers, as well as excellent views south all the way to the Badwater section of the park.

It’s remarkable that one of the most delicate and beautiful flowers found anywhere on earth, the Desert Five-Spot, exists in abundance in Death Valley.  The image above was recorded on April 10, 2009, at about 12:40 hrs, using the Nikon D300 and the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro lens.  Exposure was f/11 at 1/1250s, ISO 800.  A persistent breeze was blowing, and I had to run the shutter speed high to freeze out the wandering motion of the flower – thus the unlikely exposure setting.  Handheld, obviously.

The image above; of a cactus in full bloom, was recorded on April 10, 2009, at around 12:45 hrs, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 40mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/80s, ISO 200.  A rare flower shot (of mine) that was made using a tripod.

The image above, of a garden of tiny desert daises, was recorded using the  Nikon D300 and the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro lens.  Exposure was f/13 at 1/1000s, ISO 800.  Handheld.  The diameter of the face of one of these little flowers is about 1 cm.

Well, here’s the first shot of Death Valley proper.  In spite of all of the life and color that I’ve shown you in this entry, this image does kinda conjure up apocalypical visions.  The image was recorded on April 10, 2009, at about 14:00 PST, using the Nikon D200IR and the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED at 18mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/50s, ISO 100.

We spent a few minutes at Scotty’s Castle – that was all that was necessary – before heading to Ubuhebe Crater, and later a rendezvous with the sunset at Stovepipe Wells.  We set up on the dunes at Stovepipe Wells and waited for the sunset. It came, and went, all without any of the golden light escaping from behind the clouds.