Eroded Gullies at Zabriskie Point, Morning. Death Valley National Park, California. April 6, 2006. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Low angle morning light illuminates a tortured landscape of eroded gullies at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park.
I recently “rediscovered” this photograph while undertaking a major review of the past eight years of my raw files. (And, yes, that task is just about as much fun as you might imagine. It would actually be pretty unbearable except that every so often I find some photographs that I had perhaps forgotten or overlooked, and I also come across images that remind me of experiences that took place some time ago.)
This photograph was made, as virtually anyone who has visited the spot recognizes, by pointing my camera about 90 degrees to the left of the classic Zabriskie Point views. Timing was important, as the early light is just skimming across the tops of these tortuously eroded gullies, picking out the ridges between them but leaving the lower sections in shadow. But good fortune also played a role here. Death Valley is usually a clear blue sky kind of place, but on this morning I had clouds! At dawn, if I recall correctly, the clouds actually interfered with the light a bit. But as the sun rose the clouds provided a more dramatic background than plain blue sky and created some softer and diffused light that gave just the right sort of dynamic range for photographs.
On a technical note, if you are viewing this in the right web browser you can mouse over the image and see a summary of basic EXIF data. (Sorry, but this feature only works in web browsers – if you are viewing email, etc. you’ll need to visit the version at my blog to see the EXIF.) If you do check the EXIF you might notice that this photograph was made with a very humble example of photographic technology, the Canon Digital Rebel XT. This camera is a 8MP cropped sensor “consumer” camera that I acquired when I first tested the waters of DSLR photography. (I had actually used digital cameras back in the 1990s, but not for serious photographic work.) Those who wonder which of today’s current DSLRs might enable them to produce interesting and effective images might consider what could be done with such a humble camera. ;-)
G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Great image. We’re heading to Death Valley for the 1st time in October and am planning on getting to Zabriske Point. Do you have any “insider tips” that might help me out, either at Zabriske or any other place there. We’re spending 3 days there and will be staying at Panamint, Stovepipe and Furnace Creek for 1 night each.
Thanks, Mark. Have a great trip, and best wishes for having moderate temperatures and perhaps even a few clouds! By the way, when you stay at Stovepipe – if you are staying in the hotel – do take a look at the photographs on the walls there. They are mine. :-)
Regarding tips about the place, I started writing a lengthy summary on just this topic a while ago. Part 1 (https://gdanmitchell.com/2010/01/20/photographing-death-valley-part-1) is essentially complete. In that post you’ll also find a link to part 2, which is not complete but does contain a lot of information that you may find useful.
Dan
Dan,
I have read and bookmarked part 1 and will read part 2.
We are staying at the hotel so we’ll definitely check out your photographs.
I’m really enjoying your blog. I’m new to “serious” (actually paying attention to what I’m shooting)photography and it seems that my preference is for landscapes. I think it comes from all the backpacking and outdoor activities I did while growing up. As an adult, We lived in Colorado for 15 years and definitely took advantage of all the outdoor activities. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really into photography at that point. We moved East for work(first to Chicago and now to Atlanta). We really miss the Western states. I guess I’ll just have to budget some additional dollars to get back out there as often as possible:-)
Mark