Death Valley

[Bob]

I took a trip to Death valley for a couple of days which turned out to be a trip to hell. Arrived on Sunday evening and the winds started blowing at 70 mph. If that wasn't bad enough Furnace Creek Ranch lost power and the power stayed out for the next 3 days. All of Death Valley was out of power except the restaurant which was running on a generator. Needless to say photography was pretty difficult. However, I did manage to capture a couple of images when I was able to stand upright in the wind. I would enjoy any comments.

 

[Carlo Didier]

Ah, love that desert light!
You were lucky that the power cut wasn't in the middle of the summer, killing all air conditioning!

 

[Ben Egbert]

That first one has some lovely texture and light. That dark sandwash provide a nice leading line.

 

[AlanLichty]

That early morning light looks really nice even though your conditions for the session weren't quite so nice. Weather can be rather unpredictable this time of year no matter the location.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Bob, those are horrible conditions! Wind is probably the worst to shoot in. With rain or snow we can protect the camera and lens, but wind blowing that hard really makes it difficult.

I like your #1 from Zabriskie Point the best. I like how the drainage pulls the eye through the shot.

I almost think the ground layer in #2 needs to be brightened just a hair. Obviously the red light on the peaks is awesome, but it’s kind of getting lost I think. The bottom has some really cool salt lines to pull the eye in, but I think they are sunk a little too deep in the shadows.

 

[Sunny Sra]

Bob,
Very cool shots, the flow in #1 is excellent. Leads my eye right to the top of teh frame.

 

[Bob]

Hey Bob, those are horrible conditions! Wind is probably the worst to shoot in. With rain or snow we can protect the camera and lens, but wind blowing that hard really makes it difficult.

I like your #1 from Zabriskie Point the best. I like how the drainage pulls the eye through the shot.

I almost think the ground layer in #2 needs to be brightened just a hair. Obviously the red light on the peaks is awesome, but it’s kind of getting lost I think. The bottom has some really cool salt lines to pull the eye in, but I think they are sunk a little too deep in the shadows.

Jim,
Thanks for the critique on #2, I agree. I will work on brightening up the shadows.

 

[Terry Farrow]

Two lovely images catching the light on the mountains.