“Mesquite Plants, Dunes” — Mesquite plants growing on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.
Mesquite manages to survive and occasionally prosper in very unlikely conditions. This thriving instance is growing in the middle of dunes in Death Valley, not exactly the most friendly environment. In the dunes, isolated clumps of vegetation like this create their own little ecosystems. The plants interfere with the windblown passage of sand, and in their shelter you can often find evidence of animal life — insects, lizards and snakes, occasional tracks of small mammals.
If you spend much time out in the dunes you soon realize that a lot of these plants are dead or nearly so, existing now just as snags. It is a tough environment! This little clump of mesquite is one of the healthiest I have encountered.
“Passing Cyclist, Le Marais” — A bicycle rider quickly passes at a cross street in Le Marais, Paris.
I often ponder the similarities and differences among the various genres of photography I pursue. (If you follow me you have seen everything from landscapes to night photography to street photography to travel and more.) The connection between landscape and street photography especially interests me, partly because many people think of them as being utterly different. I think that there are some similarities. For example, I often think about the street landscape first, and then wait and watch for someone to animate it.
That was the case here. I was interested in the wall at the end of this narrow street, and the way that its view is bounded by the darker walls on either side. I knew that I could photograph people as they passed by. One tricky part of this is that I had no idea who was about to enter the scene or from which direction. So I had to be ready to react quickly. (This necessarily results in some less than remarkable photographs, too. I won’t share those!) The time was even shorter as this woman sped past on her bicycle.
I have updated the format of the daily posts to make it a bit easier for you to interact with them at the website. It is now easier to leave a comment or question on each post, and I have added a “like” button. (I won’t mind at all if you use it! ;-) I have also added some easy-to-use “share” buttons you can use to repost to social media.
“Desert Mountains, Evening” — Desert mountains tower above a huge fan and hills, Death Valley National Park.
First days in Death Valley are always a bit of a challenge. The day typically starts before dawn with a very long drive from the San Francisco Bay Area. It is at least mid-afternoon by the time I get to the park and find a campsite, and it takes an hour or so to get things set up. By this point evening isn’t that far away, so I usually pick a fairly reliable location for the first evening shoot. (I come back to camp for late dinner after dark.)
This time I headed for an area that I know pretty well, along a route that eventually leads out of the park and into Nevada. There are several locations here that I’ve been “working” for years, photographing them regularly on most visits. So I decided that the goal this evening would be to find different views in that familiar area. At my first stop I hiked to the top of a nearby hill without camera gear, just to get the lay of the land. From that elevated vantage point I could see this scene, so I headed back to my vehicle, got my gear, and set up as evening shadows stretched across the landscape.
Hi Greg. Thanks for following my blog and for leaving a comment!
I probably haven’t reached that 75 visit milestone yet, but I’d guess I’ve been there 35 or 40 times, most often for stays of five days or so. My first visit was in the mid to late 1990s, when I went with one of my kids’ school hiking clubs. In some ways, given the near disasters on that trip (it is a long story… ;-) it may be surprising that I ever went back. But as a long time High Sierra backpacker and cross-country skier, there was something magically different about this landscape. I still vividly recall my very first view of Death Valley itself. On the first morning I opened my tent door and looked down into the valley in the early morning light — I had never seen anything quite like it before, and I was hooked.
As to what inspires me to go back, that’s perhaps a complex thing. I love the immense space of the place and the profound silence and stillness once you get away from the more popular locations. I’m attracted to the way that this desert landscape is laid bare, not covered by trees and brush, letting us see the geology directly. It also appeal to me that we can go almost anywhere our feet will take us in this wide open landscape.
But this landscape is also incredibly diverse. People tend to associate Death Valley with sand dunes and barren places, and those certainly are found there. But there are also beautiful canyons, and high mountains. And there are fascinating examples of earlier human presence, ranging from the precious and fragile marks left by the first people who were already there when Europeans first arrived, up through the miners and prospectors, evidence of whose time there is all over the park.
Photographically, this is an outstanding place to work with light. It changes all day and between seasons, and because much of the terrain is not intensely colorful the light takes over and often becomes the main show.
Dan, I have been following your blog for a few years. Amazing photography. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It looks like you have been to Death Valley
75 times or so over the past couple of decades. I have only been 5 times in my lifetime. What inspires you to go back year after year. It is a very visual
landscape. I find it to be very peaceful. Have a great day. Greg
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