Death Valley – Day 4
After a night in Furnace Creek it was time to start heading home, but not after shooting one of the iconic images in Death Valley; a Zabriski Point sunrise.
Sunrise was supposed to be at about 5:45, so I was up at five. After two nights of dealing with my rig, I have the tear down and packing down to a pretty good science. I was out of the campground and on the road by about 5:15. I really thought I would be one of the only ones at Zabriski point. I WAS WRONG!!!
Panorama of Photographers at Zabriski Point
After getting a quick pano of the crowd, I went to my pre-scouted spot and set up. It was kind of funny as I was in short sleeves and most people were bundled up in parkas and knit caps. The ironic part was that I haven’t seen a cloud in three days, especially when I wanted one, and now there was nothing but clouds that threatened to ruin the sunrise. It didn’t.
Zabriski Point
What I found interesting was that as soon as the sun rose over the horizon, everyone left. I mean everyone except a couple and another gentleman. The couple was doing something cool, she was shooting regular shots, but he was doing a time-lapse of the valley with the shadow of the clouds moving over it as the sun rose behind him.
Why was this interesting? Because the light got GREAT after everyone left. If you listen to people like Scott Bourne on the PhotoFocus podcast or Rick Sammon and Juan Pons on the Digital Photo Experience podcast or listen to speakers like George Lepp, they ALL say to stay until the light is gone. Gone as in GONE, not just lacking.
By the time the sun was up, the clouds acted like a giant soft box, diffusing the light all over the landscape. In addition, the clouds allowed the sun to play a game of peek-a-boo with the hills. As a result I came up with this shot, which I knew would be good in the field, but after just a little tweaking in Lightroom turned out amazing. At least I think so. The diffused light allowed the hills to show their color, but the spots of harsh light allowed me to get a good composition. To me, it almost looks like a painting.
Zabriski Point Sunrise
After leaving Zabriski Point, I headed to Golden Canyon to walk the 1.5 miles up into the canyon and take some shots in the shade before it got too warm and bright.
Hikers in Golden Canyon
The Back of Manly Beacon
After that, I headed to Bad Water. I didn’t stick around Bad Water too long because I wanted to get started home. I had found a road on the map that heads out of Death Valley via a 30 mile dirt road that goes out the south end of the valley. It was fun driving over 30 mile of dirt road. It wasn’t fun sitting in traffic on the 15 for the next five hours.
I look forward to my next trip to Death Valley. I have some new ideas about what to shoot.
You can view some more of my images here.
Please, I welcome any and all comments on both my trip and on my photography.
