Wrapping things up

Thanks to everyone who followed this blog. I appreciate your support, and have enjoyed interacting and sharing the preparations, experiences and photographs from my trip. I had a wonderful time both in person in California, and virtually here in the blogosphere.

I am probably going to self-publish a book from this blog to help remind me of the experiences I had. A print run of one – aren’t Web 2.0 tools amazing! Not entirely sure what online publisher to use, so if anyone has any recommendations, they’d be appreciated.

Thanks again to everyone who viewed and commented on this blog. I had a great time and am looking forward to the next big trip… the 17-day family vacation this summer to California to see the Owens Valley, Yosemite National Park, San Fancisco, and Big Sur… should be a blast, and of course I will be bringing my camera gear. Maybe I should start another blog for that trip

In the meantime, most of my images can be found over on Flickr. I will be adding to the collection there as I make new ones. Here’s one last image from the trip. This is Mobius Arch, or Galen’s Arch – from the Alabama Hills area. This version is a little wider than the one I already posted, and it was made earlier that same morning, this time before the sun had risen. Later…

Sandbox

A photographer’s giant sandbox, the Mesquite Dunes near Stovepipe Wells have quite rightly taken up a considerable number of blog posts for me. I was absolutely fascinated by the light and patterns that appeared that morning, and the 40 mph winds of the evening before did me a huge favor by erasing all trace of footprints from past travelers.

The dunes were absolutely pristine, and I am truly grateful to have been able to experience the morning that I did there. A self-portrait to begin with, this series of images pretty much wraps up the collection of images that I made at this location. 

To view a gallery of images from the trip, go here

Dunes, Dunes, and more Dunes…

Here are more images from the Mesquite Sand Dunes. As I have mentioned several times before, this is a special place, and a place that I will definitely return to some day.

The trouble with shooting the dunes in the morning is that when you first walk out there it is still dark! Without any city lights to pollute the darkness, without a full moon it is VERY dark and it takes a little while to get your bearings and “see” compositions that you are interested in, but when the sun comes up, the light moves pretty fast. Ideally you will have either scouted out some compositions the day before, or shooting here in the evening would allow plenty of time in the afternoon to explore the area prior to the arrival of the evening light.

Hopefully this series of images illustrates how fast the light changes, and how wonderful it was? It started out with a cool pretty pink hue, before bathing the dunes with a warm glow. The shadows soon receded, and I was left with a bright, hot sun that truly completed the feeling of being in a desert.

Manly Beacon and the Badlands

Now that I am not driving, I have the chance to go back through the folders of images that I made on this trip. As always, there are some that dropped through the cracks that might be worth sharing. Here’s a couple more from the morning spent at Zabriskie point.

Manly Beacon is an icon of Death Valley. Named after William L. Manly who guided Gold Rush prospectors out of Death Valley in 1849, this spire stands as a beacon overlooking the valley floor and the Golden Canyon Badlands. This is a very popular vista, and surely anyone who visits Death Valley has made a photograph from Zabriskie Point with it included?

In the image below, you can see the effects of intense rainstorms and their erosive power. Death Valley doesn’t get that much rain in any given year (less than 2 inches on average), but when it does, the power of the storms can be literally earth-moving.

This surreal landscape originated when sediment was deposited here from long-ago dried-up Furnace Creek Lake. With no soil or vegetation to help anchor the land, heavy rains attack the fragile mudstone. As the water rushes and seeks a quick way to lower ground, it creates gullies and troughs that remind us of the immense power of nature. In the background you can also see the snow-capped top of Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, towering 11,049 feet above sea level.

Back to the Grind

The reason I made this trip was to present at the College Board AP Colloqium on equity. That presentation was earlier today, and things seemed as though they went well.

My co-presenter and I – Brendan Murphy from John Bapst HS in Bangor – shared how the AP4ALL program provides Advanced Placement opportunities for Maine students regardless of where they live. I laid the foundation about AP4ALL in general, and Brendan did a really nice job relaying his experiences as an online teacher of AP Calculus BC. We had about 12-15 attendees, and they seemed to enjoy the session.

Is always good to mingle with other educators from around the country. It is motivating to hear how others do what they do, and it is invigorating to engage with professional educators who obviously care very much about what they do.

I will be leaving Los Angeles on Sunday morning and will be traveling all day. I am due back in Bangor by 11pm.

Seems like weeks ago since I was in Death Valley… here’s another image from that glorious morning I spent on the dunes near Stovepipe Wells.

Critter in the Sand

There isn’t much wildlife visible to the eye out on the Mesquite Dunes, though I think at night there is all sorts of activity. The winds that blew through the valley the day before did a really nice job of erasing any footprints that might have been left by intrepid explorers like myself. That meant that on this gorgeous morning the ridges of the dunes were sharp, and any little imperfections in the sand became highly noticeable.

As I was doing my photographer thing looking for interesting compositions, this scene grabbed my attention. My eye was immediately drawn to the tiny tracks left behind by some kind of critter that had crawled up a huge sand dune. I like to believe that the tracks belong to a highly poisonous scorpion, and that I was in mortal danger on my trek through the dunes. More likely though these are the tiny footprints of some kind of harmless beetle… but the possibility of a deadly scorpion makes for a more exciting story!

I placed my camera and tripod very low to the ground in an attempt to accentuate the tracks of the insect and the lines in the sand. This side of the dune was still in shadow, and I liked the contrast with the sunlit dunes and mountains in the background. Hopefully you can see the tracks in this small web-version of the image?

 

The City of Angels

I enjoyed myself so much at the Mesquite Dunes this morning that I got a late start out of Death Valley and toward Los Angeles. I could have stayed on the dunes all day, but check-out time was reluctantly nearing, so I had to pack up and head toward LA. In the 4 hours I spent out there, I never saw another soul save for when I was getting back into my car.

I had mixed emotions about leaving Death Valley… on the one hand I didn’t want to leave. I was absolutely mesmerized by the stark and unbelievable landscape, and I wanted to stay longer to explore the park further. But on the other hand, I am excited to be here in LA getting ready for the presentation tomorrow, and I am REALLY looking forward to getting home to see the family. I know it has only been a couple of days, but it sure feels like I have been away for a month.

I am presenting at a College Board Colloqium on equity and Advanced Placement. I am presenting about AP4ALL with Brendan Murphy, a math teacher from John Bapst HS in Bangor who teaches AP Calculus BC as part of the program. Brendan doesn’t get in until later this evening, so we won’t likely get a chance to catch up til morning.

Traffic in LA is all it is hyped up to be! I just spent over two hours getting from the outskirts of the city to the hotel. I checked in to the hotel and dropped my bags off, and then went down the street a couple of miles to return the rental car. I threw on a pair of shorts and my sneakers, dropped the car off and ran back to the hotel. After being cooped up in the car for the past 6 hours or so it felt very good to get moving. And before you ask… yes, I really did run all the way.

I don’t have any pics from LA, so here’s another from the sand dunes this morning… did I mention that I liked this place?

Mesquite Dunes

Amazing place!

One quick photograph before I hit the road. Have to check out and drive down to Los Angeles, so I have to get out of here. Spent about 5 hours out on these dunes, and I am sure that I never even scratched the surface for compositional possibilities. This one was from the very first light coming over the Amargosa Range to the east… more to follow when I have time to work on them.

Running Out of Gas

Not something you want to do in this place. Call me paranoid, but the whole time I have been here I haven’t allowed the needle on my gas guage to get below half-full! The one running out of gas is me… the early morning starts and jet-lag are starting to catch up. Add to that the hot weather (which I appreciate but am not used to), and the 40 mph winds that blasted the valley all day today, and I am getting pooped.

Anyway… now for another photograph. I wandered out onto the salt flats at Badwater this evening. If you haven’t seen this place, it is well worth a visit. In addition to being at 282 feet below sea level, it is notoriously hot. Death Valley receives less than 2 inches of rain all year, but it has an evaporation rate of more than 150 inches total. What that means is that the sun literally bakes the ground, drawing up any moisture and leaving behind a salt-encrusted, baked and surreal landscape.

The last time I was here a couple of years back with my buddy Steve, the temperature was a stifling 121 degrees. The air was so heavy that evening that it really was a challenge to move at anything other than a snail’s pace. Staying hydrated was key to surviving that adventure, and even though it hasn’t come close to those searing temperatures this time around, water and sunscreen have again been essential.

When photographing the shapes on the salt flats, it can be challenging to “see” patterns that you like for the purpose of composition. I waited and waited for the magic to happen with the light, and I ended up staying out on the flats until after dark. I wanted to represent what my eyes saw, but the camera was unable to render the scene in one exposure. This image is a combination of two exposures… one for the foreground, and one for the sky. For the sky I used a neutral density filter to enable a longer shutter speed… and I think that helped deepen the colors. The salt flats reflect the color of the sky, hence the blue tint. It is always about the light, and when you combine a location like this with special light, you get great memories… and a nice photograph.

Needless to say, on this occasion there wasn’t a soul around for miles. The solitude and serenity afforded by being in a place like this is why I enjoy landscape photography.

I am hoping that the winds have died down by the morning so I can photograph the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. I wouldn’t dare take my camera out there with the sand blowing the way it was earlier today… that would be suicide for that little puppy. The good news? Well, the wind will have erased all footprints on the dunes, so if all goes to plan the area will be pristine by morning, and ready to be photographed.

Zabriskie Point

These images are from another Death Valley photographic icon. There aren’t many people who visit the park and don’t photograph this place… and I couldn’t resist either. The first is at the height of the sunrise and is the traditional take on Zabriskie Point, and the second is a little later, looking back into the sun a bit toward the folded and weathered hillside.

On the edge of the Funeral Mountains, Zabriskie Point offers an elevated overlook that looks out over a landscape of badlands with a foreground of gullies and hills, leading to the Badwater Salt Flats and across the valley to the Panamint Range and Telescope Peak.

I got here nice and early again, hoping that there would be some nice wispy upper-level clouds and a display of light as the sun came up. Although not disappointed with how things transpired, there was an absolutely amazing display of early light right behind me, overlooking the not-so picturesque parking lot! I couldn’t help wondering what things looked like down the road a bit at the Mesquite Dunes where one would have been able to incorporate the wonderful sunrise.

Lots of other photographers here this morning… everything from a busload of tourists to serious photographers shooting 8×10 format. Hard to do justice to the first shot with a wide angle lens, so I also shot some images to try to stitch a panorama together later.

Big Place!

Did you know that Death Valley is the largest National Park in the contiguous United States? There are more than 3.3 million acres of wilderness in this park, with a wide range in topography and climate throughout its expanse.

On the Western side of the park you have the still snow-capped Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range which towers at 11,049 feet, and directly below that in the barren salt flats of Badwater you can find yourself at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere – 282 feet below sea level. There are giant sand dunes and twisting canyons, hidden waterfalls and glorious wildflowers. This is a park that requires some time to see… unless you want to spend a lot of time driving. The scenery is barren but beautiful, arid but amazing.

This image is from Dante’s View, an overlook perched at 5,475 feet atop the Black Mountains. Looking north through the valley you can see the Panamint Range to the left, the Badwater Salt Flats and the Devils Golf Course through the heart of the valley, and the Funeral Mountains bordering California and Nevada to the right.

On this morning in late March, the wind was howling at about 40 mph, and the temperature was noticeably cooler than down in the valley. A magnificent vista of what is a surreal landscape.

An Oasis in the Desert

Tucked away in a narrow and desolate canyon there is water to be found in Death Valley!

Another washboard drive – this time 2.5 miles of fear of a flat tire – and then a one mile hike found me looking up at this wonderful waterfall. Called Darwin Falls, it can be found by hiking along a dried up river bed that slowly gets narrower and narrower, and as it gets narrower, it also gets greener.

Running water can be heard as you clamber over rocks and around bends in the canyon. A welcome respite from the heat of Death Valley, this little oasis is a gem. The further I ventured into the canyon, the more life I encountered. I even saw some genuine wildlife – several lizards, some as large as about a foot in length crossed my path as they scurried about their business.

I didn’t take my tripod on the hike with me. It was pretty hot out – around 80 degrees which was hot for me having just come from 21 degrees in Bangor the day before. I bracketed three shots so that I could try to handle the dynamic range that comes from trying to make an image such as this on a sunny day in a canyon filled with shadows. The camera has a hard time exposing correctly when there is such a range between the light and dark areas in the scene. Our eyes automatically adjust to the scene, but the camera cannot… bracketing exposures allows me to “blend” different areas to create one image that best represent what my eyes saw in person. I would love to have slowed the shutter way down to “feather” the water, but there you go… with bright light and no tripod, this is what you get.

Alabama Hills

More from the Alabama Hills area. A very distinctive landscape, this area was named after the CSS Alabama by prospectors sympathetic to the confederate cause.

Many movie scenes and TV scenes have been filmed in this location. Among others, The Lone Ranger was filmed here, along with scenes from Gladiator, Tremors (classic movie if you haven’t seen it), Gunga Din, and How The West Was Won. Trivia courtesy of my favorite encyclopedia… Wikipedia.

The contrast between the odd-shaped rocks scattered all over the place and the majestic peaks of the Eastern Sierra make for a photographer’s paradise. Here’s a couple more from the area:

Mobius Arch

Another early start… this time from the town of Lone Pine and heading up into the Alabama Hills. I had decided to make a detour about an hour and a half north of Death Valley to try to see this place. I have seen many images of the area, and it seemed like it would be well worth seeing in person. I was not disappointed.

I left the hotel room at about 5:00am… after yesterday evening’s debacle with losing the light, I was determined not to get lost this time and risk something similar happening. I had seen images of this arch many times… and although a photographic icon, I wanted to see it for myself.

Sometimes called “Galen’s Arch” after late renowned landscape photographer Galen Rowell, it is located in the foothills of the Eastern Sierra, right under the imposing and beautiful Mt. Whitney.

I had the place all to myself, and before sunrise I truly do not think I have ever witnessed a darker and more impressive night sky. I swear I saw the Milky Way, and I know I saw several shooting stars. Mt. Whitney is 14,505 feet, and as the sun rises and kisses it with morning light it is indeed a sight to behold.

Some of the images I have seen from this location include a warm, almost alpenglow on Mt. Whitney… no such light for me though. However, even though it is late March, there was still a wonderful coating of snow all across the higher peaks, and that definitely made for a special experience for me.

Anyway… more to come from the Alabama Hills area later. I don’t have that much time to edit and post-process right now because I want to hit the road and head toward Death Valley. Yeehaaa!

Longest Day…

Today was what one might safely call a long day! I was up at 4am EST to get to the airport, and even though all of my flights connected on time and everything went smoothly, it still made for a tiring day traveling.

I hate flying. Not the actual flying, but the claustrophobic and stifling feeling you get when confined in the airplane seat. Never comfortable, I tried to doze but had a hard time trying to catch up.

Landed in LA and headed straight for the car rental place. After a brief delay, I set off on the “Freeway” in my shiny little PT Cruiser. It was quite cool to drive north on I-405 and see famous names like Sunset Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, and Santa Monica Boulevard in person.

I knew that I could not get to Death Valley before sunset, and wanted to try to at least shoot something on the way. I decided to stick to the plan and drive north toward the Trona Pinnacles. After a considerable drive, I arrived at the entrance to the 5-mile long dirt road leading to the site just before sunset. I drove faster than I should have on the awful road, just trying to get close enough so that I might be able to make a photograph or two before the light was gone.

As you can see, the light wasn’t anything special, but as always, just being there was really neat. Definitely a unique place – even otherwordly – but unfortunately I was unable to come away with a photograph that really did this place justice. Within 5 minutes of me grabbing my camera and scrambling to snag at least something, the shadow from a nearby peak had engulfed the scene. Rather than staying any longer to appreciate the scene and then having to navigate the dirt road back in the dark, I left pretty soon after taking this image.

I headed onward and upward, and am VERY happy to be off the road and able to rest. More to come… will be up bright and early and hope to be able to enjoy some more wonderful scenery.

On The Road

Well actually… I am going to be in the air first, and then on the road. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for California, and am very excited for this day to have finally arrived. I have been thinking – and blogging – about this trip for quite a while… I started in the depths of our Maine winter, and now it is time to leave.

The image below is an example of the remoteness and uniqueness of the landscape I am going to experience. Death Valley National Park is a vast and sometimes inhospitable place, but that is why it intrigues me so much. My next post should be from somewhere other than Bangor, Maine.

Forecast Looks Good!

I am getting excited. I leave for California on Tuesday morning, and as I check the weather forecast things look to be shaping up nicely for the trip.

Looks like the temperatures will be in the 80’s, and even though the snow here in Maine has been melting recently, it will be very nice to feel the warm (OK… hot!) sun again.

While blue skies and sunshine are going to be very welcome, for landscape photography it is preferable sometimes to have clouds in the sky to provide a little drama. With this in mind, I was quite excited when I saw that the forecast was for at least “mostly sunny” and also for some”wind” – both elements might present opportunities for more creative compositions.

I am going to attempt to “stretch” creatively a little on this trip, trying some longer exposures with an ND filter, looking at creating some panoramic shots, and a real challenge for me… night photography.

The plan is to get there – Death Valley – and slow down… really take some time to explore and experience the valley as best I can in the time that I have. Too often not enough time is devoted to exploring a location, hurrying from place to place and spending way too much time in the car. Not this time…

I will have Internet access during the trip, so I will plan on updating the blog as often as I can. Would love to hear your thoughts as the trip unfolds. Should be fun!

Finally finalized… the itinerary!

OK, I have been waffling back and forth lately about the specifics of the itinerary for my trip… which by the way is only a couple of days away now.

I had been debating trying to squeeze more into this trip, but in the end feel that I should probably slow down a little, and spend more time in what is truly a unique place. I feel good about this choice, and am looking forward to the adventure.

I leave for California bright and early on Tuesday morning, and as I check the weather forecast daily these days, I see that it is expected to be between 88 and 91 degrees and sunny the whole time I am there. While I would love to have some clouds to add some drama for the photography part of things, I have to admit I am excited about feeling the warmth of the sun again. Here in Maine we won’t see anything above 70 degrees likely until mid-May at the earliest!

So… the plan is to stick with the plan! I am going to leave LA and head north toward the Trona area for Tuesday evening. After that I am going to move on toward Death Valley and spend the next couple of days exploring the park. There is so much to see and do there, and the unique and exciting landscape there will give me plenty of photographic opportunities.

Here’s a photograph of the Mesquite Sand Dunes taken the last time I was in Death Valley. This image was captured in the morning, but on this visit I hope to be able to spend some time on these dunes in both the morning and evening.

More from the Bangor Forest

OK… I have to admit, I am really intrigued by the images I was able to make last weekend at the Bangor Forest. There is something – at least to me – ethereal and extremely interesting about these blurred images. Not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but for me… they are intriguing.

Here are a couple more images from the day. In all, I think I tried this maybe five times… and each time I was successful in capturing an image that I liked. That is actually a pretty high success rate, especially considering the subject matter… and am looking forward to trying this technique when I head out West next week.

Finally… I made a photograph!

It has been a long, long time since I have taken a landscape photograph. Recently I have been using a point and shoot for the convenience that it offers, and I haven’t really taken the time to make any images other than shooting the family etc. With my trip out West coming up shortly, I figured that I had better get back into the swing of things.

There is still a ton of snow on the ground around here, but with the sun shining and temperature rising into the mid 40’s, I brought my camera with me as we went for a walk through the Bangor Forest this morning.

Unfortunately the terrain was pretty scrubby, with dirty snow and broken branches all over the place. I didn’t see much in the way of potential traditional landscape scenes, and so I decided to try something different.

I have long admired the impressionistic images created by William Neill. He has been known to use a technique where he moves the camera while the shutter is open, resulting in what are some absolutely stunning artistic creations. William Neill has venues such as Yosemite, Sequoia and Death Valley to work with… this morning I had the Bangor Forest!

I was thrilled to see right on the LCD as I tripped the shutter that this experiment seemed to be working. With the shutter left open for around half a second, I explored moving the camera either up or down across the scene. With minimal post-processing, the results can be seen below. All shot with a Canon 20D and 17-40mm lens, I am interested in thoughts and opinions…