Death Valley Adventure
My latest trip was to Death Valley. I planned this trip to photograph the Geminids Meteor Shower. I made my first attempt at photographing a meteor shower in August and it went pretty well. I decided it was worth another try. This trip contained a few more challenges.
Saturday
I spent the day driving to Death Valley via Highway 395. I estimated the drive would be 7 hours but it ended up taking 9 1/2 hours. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Death Valley, I highly recommend taking 395 versus I5. Winter offers more challenges this way but the views are so much more attractive.
I arrived just as the sun was setting behind the Panamint mountains. I rushed to grab all my gear and ran down to a location in the Salt Pans that I scouted last year.
This was intended to serve as a practice night because the meteor peak wasn't to be until the next 2 following nights. This night turned out to be my best night for 2 reasons: first, there was virtually no wind, and second, I wasn't a complete idiot about the spot I chose.
I shot a horizontal and a vertical (which take about 1.5 hours each to shoot) then some milky way shots. This is a bad time of year to shoot the milky way because it is mostly below the horizon so I didn't include the photos here.
Sunday
The next morning, I headed to Badwater. There were a couple of other photographers out there but this place is massive so there was plenty of room for all of us. This is a great location to come and listen to the silence. Death Valley is the only place I have been that is void of any sound. It's kind of creepy but really cool.
After sunrise, I scouted several locations for my next night shot. I was down to a decision between Badwater and Ashford Mill Ruins. I love Ashford Mill. It's just different and there is a cool structure for the foreground. The problem with Ashford is the distance. It is about an hour past Badwater, very remote, and a bad place to break down. It was also very windy when I scouted it but I hoped it would calm down after the sun set. I don't know what I was thinking.
After scouting, I went over to the Salt Marsh and hiked around. I saw a burrowing Owl and a variety of other birds. I met a couple who told me about Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge so I figured I would go the following morning.
After the Salt Marsh, I headed back to Ashford Mill. The wind had picked up a bit. Oh goody.
I started second guessing my decision to shoot here, which happens on occasion, but thats all part of the photography game so I accepted it. I waited for it to get dark, and while I did, the wind picked up even more. It was so windy that I loaded a bag with rocks and secured it to my tripod to help brace the camera.
Normally, when I shoot night photos, I stay with my camera. I just fell better knowing I can hear the click every 30 seconds and everything is functioning as expected. This night, I chose to stay inside my car while the wind knocked it around. It was shocking just how windy it was and I was nervous that my gear was getting abused. All I kept thinking was, "I am such a coward - a real photographer would have stayed with their gear." After an hour+ of this self loathing, I went out to take the foreground shots which requires readjusting the focus and lots of running around with flashlights. This is when I am glad for remote places because I am sure I looked like a dork.
I was surprised that my camera did all right in the breezy conditions and all the images were tack sharp. The problem was that I only detected 1 meteor in close to 150 photos! I ended up merging my images for a star trail photo. I didn't even stay long enough to do a vertical composition. I just wanted to get my gear back in the car where it was safe.
Monday
In the middle of the night, it started to rain and I woke to a mostly cloudy sky. I could just barely see some stars and I thought the sky would make for nice shots at Badwater. I know I was just there the previous morning but when the weather is right, you've got to jump on it. Chances are, I'll be back to Death Valley again, so I can try other locations next time. It ended up being okay - not exactly what I hoped - but I liked the cool patterns I found. On my way out, I stopped to take a picture of the highway. I was probably in the middle of the road for at least 10 minutes with not a single car in sight. If you want peace - go to Death Valley.
After the morning shoot, I headed to Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge. This was another bad choice. It took an hour to drive each way and another 3 to explore the refuge. For that 5 hours, at a wildlife refuge, I got a few shots of grass. Grass people.
After the Ash Meadows debacle, I really wanted to check out 20 Mule Canyon Road which had been closed due to flooding. I just wanted to see what it looked like and I'm glad I stopped. I explored both the exit and entrance points but I thought the exit was a bit more cool since it was more "canyony". I also saw a coyote on my way out and ran into that couple that referred me to Ash Meadows. I didn't yell at them for making a bad recommendation though. They were nice people and told me about this cool satellite tracker they carry while traveling. They both urged me to get one!
After I was done dilly-dallying at the canyon, I went to my next night location: Mesquite Dunes. Did I mention it had been windy the night before? Yeaaahhh. It was windy here too. Wind and sand. That's a delight. I didn't rush to get there for sunset pictures because people spend all day walking on the dunes mucking up the patterns. I took a couple photos while I waited for darkness. Nothing exciting.
This was a brutal night. The wind was so nasty, I was certain I had ruined my gear. The sand was in every crevice. I could hear it grinding as I adjusted the lens focus. It jammed up my cable release so bad that I couldn't set the auto release timer. I finally got it to work, after much cursing. After I set everything up and it got dark, I noticed a major flaw in my plan. The moon, albeit small, was in my shot. Aggggghhhhh. I couldn't have that so I had to start over again - this time in darkness. I made my adjustments, set the auto release, then waited. I hunkered down behind a shrub, ate my dinner (which tasted a lot like sand), and read an issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine by headlamp. Again, I only took one composition this night because the wind was just too much.
After I secured everything in my pack, I started the long walk back to my car, up a dune, down a dune, up a dune, down a dune. . . I had 2 lights with me. One of them died almost immediately so I was walking by my headlamp light. This is normally fine but the wind was so bad that all I could see was sand. I was completely disoriented and didn't know which way to walk - but I could see the outline of the mountain that was the same direction as my car - so I just kept heading that way. I finally made it to the main road but I didn't know if my car was to the left or to the right. Thankfully, there was a sign that I recognized and I knew my car was to the right of that, so I headed that way and I made it back safely.
Once I got to the campground, I looked up and saw a bright meteor shoot across the sky. Of course.
This night also only yielded a couple of meteors so I opted for a star trail shot. I am sure if I had gone out later, like 3 am, I would have gotten more.
Tuesday
The next morning, I headed back out to the dunes. This is a great sunrise location because the wind from the night before cleans up all the footprints. Also, it's only a mile or so from the campground.
There were a few other photographers out there so I headed away from the big dunes because I knew they would go there and my shots would be no good. I opted instead for some smaller dunes with clean patterns. I got a few decent shots then started the long drive back home.
On my way out, I saw a couple of coyotes and one of them was kind enough to let me take some photos.
That's it! I can't wait to get back out there again.
