Commentary, Locations

Photographing Death Valley – Part 2

6 Comments

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A FINISHED POST – IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS…

(This article is an experiment in web publishing. Rather that keeping this article hidden until it is finished, I’m going to make a link to this draft version available and let folks watch it evolve and even comment if they are so inclined. With that in mind, a few assumptions going into this:

  1. Since this is a draft version of a work in progress, there are no guarantees of accuracy!
  2. Material that appears in the draft may or may not appear in the final version – heck, it may change while you are viewing it!
  3. Helpful comments are welcome and even encouraged. For various reasons – including a desire to control the length of the final piece – I can’t guarantee that I’ll respond to or include all contributions.
  4. Since my approach to writing is often to spew lots of words and go back later to trim (some of) the excess verbiage, excuse the inevitable “wordiness” of the draft.
  5. If this works, I may try it with future posts. If it doesn’t, I might change my mind about this one!
  6. When the (what passes for) final version of the post is created, the material at this URL may disappear and it will become available at a new URL.

Thanks,

Dan)

This material is current unavailable while revisions are underway. Thanks for your understanding…

Also, more (but not all!) of my Death Valley photography is found here:https://gdanmitchell.com/gallery/v/NaturalWorld/TheLandscape/Desert/DeathValley/

6 thoughts on “Photographing Death Valley – Part 2”

  1. Great article! I would like to add one thing about the Racetrack: do NOT take the road that comes from the south. You might find this road on maps or if you use a GPS or an application (Google Maps for instance) to get directions. The south road is tempting because a lot shorter if you arrive from Lone Pine but it is also an order of magnitude worse than the road you describe.
    It’s a narrow road going up in the mountains, miles away from civilization and pretty much nobody driving it. If anything happens, you are on your own. In the most difficult parts of the road you cannot even turn around. You may even get stuck (boulders on the road, big pot holes, missing bits of road.) If you really want to go, get a high 4wd and make sure you have one or two spare tires, food and water and that someone knows where you are going.

    I drove a few times to the Racetrack using the north road and I used to think it was pretty bad, but in comparison with the south road, it’s a really nice and smooth highway.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the update, Romain. I’ve heard stories about that road, including from a DEVA ranger I talked to at one point. Everyone seems to pretty much UNrecommend it as an alternate route. Those who take that route have serious 4WD vehicles and lots of experience and typically travel in the company of others.

      Dan

      Reply

  2. SUPER job writing up DV! I plan on going for the first time this Aug (i know!) and you have some great tips for shooting. Thanks!
    PS the 4WD rental place link doesn’t work.

    Reply

    1. August, eh? ;-) You’ve been warned! But do have a great trip. I’m sure you’ll have great stories to tell.

      Thanks for the heads up on that link. I’ll take a look and perhaps edit that part a bit.

      Dan

      Reply

  3. Thanks for catching that Joshua. That link does seem to have disappeared, and I was unsuccessful in figuring out where it might have gone. I’ve deleted it.

    Grateful for helpful proofreaders,

    Dan

    Reply

  4. This web address you linked to doesn’t work
    \http://sophia.smith.edu/~lfletche/deathvalley.html

    Reply

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