Day 5, Dawn
At night dunes are filled with animal sounds. By the morning there are lots of signs of creatures’ night life – all kind of tracks in the dunes.
Category: photo
Everything Interesting Is In The Cracks
Day 5, Dawn
In lowlands between dunes you can find solid pressed fine grained sand. I always start working with a subject from far a way, since once I get closer I won’t be able to erase my tracks in case I want to step back. So, I started by photographing one of these islands as a part of landscape, then I got closer.
First that caught my eye, as I got close to it, was little domes and shadows around them. It looks like they were pieces in large puzzle. I tried to photograph those domes but photos ended up borings with a piece straight in the middle. I tried to shift them off center in my frame. That was when I realized that the really interesting thing in that puzzle were cracks in between the pieces.
Sand Storm
Day 4, Dusk
At night dunes are calm and quiet. But as sun rises strong winds start moving sands. Dunes become violent and unpredictable.
Today I went into dunes for sunset. There was little to no wind at first then within a few minutes wind became very strong. It was not only moving dust, it was moving sand.
Would you want your skin be polished with sand paper? That’s how it felt standing in that sand storm. I had to hide behind a bush hoping that it will be over soon but it was picking up more and more. As I was standing behind the bush I saw sand settling on camera. I needed to get out.
I was walking backwards toward a road to keep my back against the wind. The fun part in walking backwards was seeing my footsteps disappear right in front of my eyes. The wind and moving send would repair the dune texture within seconds.
Sand Storm. No Visibility
Don’t Be Stupid
Day 4, Noon
Today at noon I hiked up Mosaic Canyon. It turned to be more interesting from geological and mineralogical point of view rather than from photographical. The variety of color and texture of rocks was captivating.
On the way back I saw what looked like a steep trail up to a ridge that could open up to a view of Death Valley and Mesquite Dunes. I started climbing up.
The trail was getting steeper and steeper. At some point I had to climb up a two meter drop. I had to stop to think about how to climb it and realized that I could climb up but I would unlikely be able to climb down. There is a reason why climbers slide down on ropes. Climbing down is much harder than climbing up.
I recalled what John Shaw said when was asked if he had one advice to photographers what it would be. His answer was "Don’t be stupid". Being already 15 meters up on a very steep trail with sharp rocks and nobody else making this far into the canyon, there would be no help if I make wrong move.
I carefully retraced back my steps backward (there was no room to turn around). It took longer to get back down than to walk up. Once I had ground under my foot again, I was happy that common sense won over curiosity this time.
Spring Is In The Air
Spring… What do you do to us. Emotions over the top. Creativity spruces.
After dreadful winter rains nice spring weather came to Pacific Northwest. And I cannot stop photographing. I have not sorted thru all the photos from Death Valley trip yet and I already took photos of cherry blossom, that I have not even looked thru, tulip festival, that I only quickly looked thru.
Today I wanted to hike up to some waterfalls, stopped on the way there to check out a creek running over the rocks and got stuck there for hours photographing the creek, rocks, flowers, reflections. I have not even made to the trailhead to the waterfalls that I was originally planning to go to.
Here is one of the photos from today’s trip:
I really need to step up processing of all my photos.
PS And today while reviewing photos in camera I accidently navigated to the first photos on the card a discovered interesting images of plum blossom that I have not even download off the card yet.
Barefoot
Day 4, Dawn
Walking dunes barefoot adds another dimension to the experience of being in sand dunes. The dunes density changes – sometimes it feels like walking on a paved road and sometimes your feet sink deep into sand. Sand texture changes too – sometimes it is grainy and rough and other times it is powder soft.
And it is so quiet and calm in the morning before sunrise. Working barefoot on sand that cooled down during night is such a relaxing experience.
Dust Storm
Day 3, Sunset
Back in Death Valley I went to Mesquite Dunes – my favorite place in Death Valley. The wind was strong I saw dust storms on the way to Death Valley and there was a dust storm in the valley too.
As sunrise was getting closer the wind was picking up more and more. Visibility dropped. The wind was continuously moving sand. Bare legs were getting a treatment with sand paper. Sand was getting everywhere.
The sand was getting into my eyes, my eyes were teary and I could not see anything. I had to retreat back to the car, wait for my eyes to clear out and then drive away to observe this from safe distance.
Big Pine
Day 3, Noon
With a spare tire that I put the day before I could not get far, since it was not regular size. I needed to fix that problem first. The closest town – Big Pine – was over an hour away, especially with spare tire with a limit of 50 mph.
The drive to Big Pine turned out pretty interesting and picturesque. From there I decided to drive along Sierra Nevada mountain range south and re-enter Death Valley from west. That way I would have entered the valley from every road available.
The road was very nice. If I were to go to Eureka Dunes again that’s probably the way I would approach it. And for convenience I could even stay in Big Pine for a night.
The drive to Big Pine and then driving west of Death Valley turned out very picturesque. Here is a road from Eureka Dunes with snowy Sierra Nevada in the distance:
Here is a nice roller-coaster ride to the west entrance to Death Valley with mountains in the distance hidden behind dust storm:
And here are the curves of road descending into Death Valley with its colorful mountains (click on the image to see it larger):
Texture
Day 3, Morning
The most interesting thing for me in dunes is their texture. I just walk the dunes and collect different textures like a biologist collecting specimens. And sometimes texture leads somewhere like in this case lines of the texture lead into valley. White peaks of Sierra Nevada range are visible in the distance (barely visible on a small picture). It is amazing how such extremely hot and cold places are located so close to each other.
Eureka Dunes
Day 2, Sunset
Here they are – Eureka Dunes. This is the first time I went there. Their size is magnificent and awe inspiring.
Just as I approached Eureka Dunes a low pressure indicator came up on console. I stopped and stepped outside. I could here a fizzing sound coming from a punched tire. Photography aside I had to replace the tire first.
Changing tire in heat and dust is not fun. At first I thought it was kind of lame that I had made all this way without a problem and got a flat at the destination. But in retrospective I think it was good it happened there and not in the middle of the road. It was easier to change tire on a leveled camping site than a rough road. And there were other campers there who were more than happy to help.
Once the tire was replaced I was ready to photograph a sunset. And what a sunset it was!
Here is the last light on the highest dune. The clouds are still white and soft.
And here are the clouds lit up.
vitali prokopenko | fine art 