I can report with some authority that doing photography in Death Valley in the middle of a dust storm (of the sort that almost turns day to night) is not easy. :-)
I’ve been in Death Valley since Tuesday, shooting a variety of subjects – some iconic and some not. I had contemplated staying through until Saturday morning, but I decided late Thursday that I’d go ahead and leave after shooting on Friday morning. My initial plan was to get up at my usual 5:00 a.m. time and head out somewhere to shoot a dawn subject, after which I would return to the Stovepipe Wells campground to break camp and head out. I got up quickly and decided I might have time to quickly break camp before doing photography, so I quickly knocked the tent down and loaded everything into my car.
After shooting at Zabriskie Point (can’t get much more “iconic” than that!) I started back toward the Towne Pass exit – and spotted a huge ugly dust cloud forming up near Tucki Mountain, which rises right above Stovepipe Wells near the Mesquite Dunes (a.k.a “Death Valley Dunes). As I got closer the already strong wind became even more violent and I soon entered the fringe of the dust storm. By the time I turned across the Valley toward the Dunes and Stovepipe the cloud had turned into a malevolent beast, with wind whippped sand streaming across the roadway and the sun completely blotted out.
The scene was very nasty as I drove past Stovepipe Wells… and I was extremely glad that I had made that early morning decision to pack up at 5:15!
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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