I decided to try a little web-publishing experiment with part 2 of my series of posts on photographing Death Valley National Park – I’m sharing the draft publicly as I write it. I decided to try this for several reasons.
It is prime DeVa photography season now and for the next couple of months, and some people may find the information useful before I’m ready to release the final version.
There are lots of you who have DeVa experience of your own, and perhaps your comments and feedback may improve the post.
Maybe, just maybe, someone might be interested in watching the evolution of the post. I can flatter myself, right? :-)
Recently I posted the first part of my report on photographing in Death Valley. At that time I mentioned that while I had originally envisioned a single post, the subject had grown so large that I decided to split it into two sections. I noted that I hoped to post the update soon.
I’m still digging away on this project, and part 2 is now probably about half way completed. I’m currently working on the section about the Racetrack Playa. It looks like this will perhaps be the largest section of the report – the Playa is such an interesting place and there is so much to say about it. In the meantime, anyone considering a photo trip to the Racetrack might find some earlier posts of mine to be interesting and useful:
The last one may be one of the most important to read if you are visiting the Playa this season. While I don’t know the current conditions on the playa, there are a few things that I do know.
The Valley just experienced tremendous rains that have left pooled water in areas of the park and washed out a number of access roads.
A “playa” is a formation created when heavy rains wash silt-filled water down from surrounding mountains and flood a lower basin. The implications of the previous sentence should be obvious… ;-)
Even if you can get to the playa, walking on its surface when it is wet is tremendously destructive. Tracks last for many years once the playa surface dries. If you visit when it is wet, please show some restraint and respect for the hundreds of visitors who will follow you – STAY OFF THE PLAYA IF IT IS WET.
