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Commentary, Locations

Death Valley. Photography. Me.

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Some folks have written asking for ideas and advice about visiting Death Valley. (My first advice is go last month – too hot now!) In response I decided to start writing something that summarizes my experience (which is significant, but nowhere near that of the real DV experts) in the park, especially as it pertains to photographic locations and times of day/year to visit.

I originally thought I’d finish it right after my return from the park at the beginning of April. Didn’t happen… Instead, as I wrote the darn thing kept getting longer and longer. Today I decided to illustrate it with some of my DV photographs, and then I sat back and made a longer outline of the subjects I will eventually cover.

All of this is my way of saying that there eventually will be an article here on photographing Death Valley… but please be patient.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Salt Flats Near Badwater

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Salt Flats Near Badwater

Salt Flats Near Badwater. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening on the salt flats near Badwater – Death Valley National Park.

I have to admit that this is a bit of a cliche photography location. I’ve been both lucky and unlucky when shooting here. In terms of photographs of the Panamint Range – which towers above the west side of Death Valley and is not really visible in this photo – I’ve been lucky: on several occasions I’ve had wonderful late afternoon clouds with light columns shining through as the sun dropped behind the mountains. On the other hand, I’ve found it difficult to shoot these formations on the salt flats. Earlier this year, I shot there with my my brother, who pointed me to a spot a bit south of where I had attempted to photograph these features in the past, and it turned to be a better location.

In my experience, photographing these “ridges on the salt flat” is a bit tricky. Continue reading Salt Flats Near Badwater →

Photographs: Death Valley

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

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Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams over the east face of the Panamint Mountains above Death Valley. Viewed from the east side of the Valley near Badwater.

I’ve been very lucky to encounter this phenomenon more than once when I’ve been in Death Valley. Although I know that most of the time it can be perfectly (too perfectly) clear there, I’ve seen clouds build over the Panamints in the afternoon during my April visits and then thin just enough late in the day to let these light beams shine through and illuminate the lower reaches of the Panamint Range.

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