Dan and I went to Death Valley on December 20 and were there through the 24th. (We got out just in time: the rain that began on our drive home eventually caused a lot of road closures, and even leaving when we did — at about 6:30 AM — we encountered flooded roads, some spots where falling rocks caused Dan to have to carefully maneuver around them, and a road closure that added probably 45 minutes to our drive.)
We woke early on our first morning and Dan drove to Lake Manly. I’d never seen a lot of water so I was looking forward to going there. I don’t do much landscape (or waterscape) photography, but I did a bit just to say I did.
We went to the Coast yesterday with Greg (my brother) and Jan (his wife). It’s a favorite place for them, and we had heard that we were in for some pretty crazy surf. It was just a perfect day: not cold, not too windy, yet the waves … well … amazing!
I was going to post this on my other site, Traveling Times (and if you are interested in reading about an upcoming trip be sure and sign up there!) … but it turned out I was writing about photography so I figured I maybe should post here instead. So here is a bit of a ramble about photographing the dunes. I have yet to really figure out how to shoot there, and it doesn’t thrill me nearly as much as shooting flowers, but I do continue to try to capture them. And I watch Dan at work: HE knows how to shoot them, for sure!
We began our first full day in Death Valley on the dunes. Early. Earlier than this musician likes to rise. But I did it and I think I only whined a little bit.
Hiking out to the dunes takes time: it looks like they are a short walk away. They aren’t. It looks easy, but walking in sand isn’t a breeze, and trying to go up on sand can be hard and even hysterical as I flail about.
Once we get out there, we wait for light. The first shots can be quite dull. Like this one:
As you can see above, the light is only beginning. The photo is rather boring … but I wanted to share what it first looks like. But light starts up, and that’s when some people (usually not me!) get some mighty fine shots. First, though, I take a few iPhone shots to send to our kids, so they can see the beauty.
It was never warm while we were in Death Valley. I know it might look warm, with the sun on the dunes, but while I was never freezing, I never was without several layers.
Below the light is starting to really do its thing.
Working with the color can be tricky. Should I continue with the blue, or should I alter it? Which is more believable? Does it matter? What do I remember? Can I even remember? For instance, here are two versions of the same image. I’m calling this “What to do about All that Blue?”:
Altered to soften the blues:
As the sun gets higher in the sky, the colors change … sand gets whiter, blue starts to soften …
Okay … that’s enough of me for now. I need to go practice, that was nearly the end of our dune adventure, and how many images do you need to see from me anyway?! And to think this last shot has only brought us to 7:42 AM! … and was taken as we were heading back to the car. Breakfast follows early morning photography. (And breakfast on this trip meant granola with banana and milk in our motel room.) We did a lot more that day – headed up to the high country, checked out the charcoal kilns and Skidoo, and later more scenic areas which, perhaps, I’ll share later. Maybe.
It is far too hot here, so I thought I’d share something from another time, location, and temperature. But would you believe this is from the desert? We went up into the high country and were quite surprised by the abundance of wildflowers and the arrival of snow. It was a fabulous day!
Dan and I recently went on a pack trip (using mules to cart all our heavy equipment in, which is a treat) in the Sierra Nevada with some wonderful photographer friends. The hike wasn’t easy for me, but I made it, and the beauty of the location was just incredible. We hit all sorts of weather — rain, thunder, lightening, hail, sun — yep, we seemed to hit it all! I’m so grateful that I am able to do these trips, but I realize a couple of things: 1) I really need to work on fitness! 2) I need to learn how to “see” better (flowers I can do, but the “all of it” is such a challenge for me … besides, I’m rather intimidated by the other photographers who are simply amazing).
But speaking of flowers … have this elephant’s head image:
