Dunes of Death Valley

Death Valley National Park, November 2020.

I have a couple of videos from this trip to Death Valley that you can watch here (part 1) and here (part 2).

Not death

Death Valley, California, November 2020.

I have a video-diary from my last visit to Death Valley, watch here part I and part II. I also have an older (and slightly embarrasing now) video from my visit in 2017. I was still shooting film back then!

I've been to Death Valley National Park several times and I can't wait to visit it again. What a beautiful place.

A Death Valley photography journal

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to spend a couple nights in beautiful Death Valley National Park. I recorded a photography journal of sorts, and the result is these two videos. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Evening, California, January 2017

Camera and Lens: Sony A7II, Sony 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens
Settings: 70mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/800sec

I made this image on the way back from my first visit to Death Valley. I will never forget that sunset, I've never seen clouds like those forming above the Eastern Sierra Nevada that evening.

Still admiring the skies, something caught my eye on the side of the road: a lone Joshua Tree. I had to pull over and stop to take this exposure.

I pointed which at the time was still my camera, a Sony full-frame, and took the exposure. I knew I had gotten something special but for some reason I kept this image away for a while.

So many things have happened since that moment and still, it's been only a year and a half.

See more images of California.

Dune, Death Valley, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford Pan F
Exposure: 50
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Another exposure of a sand dune in Death Valley National Park.

I like to play with wide apertures when making images of scenes like this one. The wind on the top of the dune and a relatively slow shutter speed helped to create this effect of a soft dune on the bottom and top.

The shadow on the right splits the frame as well.

It's also a frame from one of the two rolls of Pan F I exposed during the road trip. I should use it more often since it's a film stock I enjoy exposing.

See more photos of Death Valley National Park.

Ripples, Death Valley, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Death Valley is one of my absolute favorite places to photograph, one where you can find a variety of subjects you can't find in many other places.

It's not easy to explain how that landscape makes you feel once you are there, scale is hard to comprehend. To call it "vast" is one thing, to see it in person is another. And I haven't even made it to the most remote parts of the park yet!

This was one of the last images I made that day, after hours of exploring, driving and hiking through the park. Just before sunset, at the very popular Mesquite Dunes.

They are indeed very popular, and it's hard to find dunes withouth footprints. I parked some half a mile away from the parking lot and walked to smaller but cleaner dunes, east of the bigger and more visited ones.

There I found plenty of unspoiled dunes (unspoiled for the last few days, at least) where I could play with the light and the patterns of the sand.

As you can see, I took this picture on the shaded side of the dune, where only part of the ripples were being bathed with light from the setting Sun.

See more pictures of Death Valley.

Badwater of Death Valley, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

Who says you need a wide angle to photograph the ground? After trying to visualize a compelling shot using the 50mm, I decided to go with the 80mm and capture the contrast between the saline bottom of Badwater basin and the impressive, dark "wall" that the nearby mountains create (have you noticed the car?).

Mesquite Dunes of Death Valley, December 2017

Camera and Lens: Bronica SQ-Ai, Zenzanon PS 80mm f/2.8
Film stock: Ilford HP5+
Exposure: 800
Developer: Ilfotec HC

I'd photographed these dunes before, but bad timing didn't allow for those "classic" shots at sunset time. This time, I was ready.

I was expecting good compositions showing the contrast between the bright sand and the deep shadows that the low Sun would create, but I found much more than that. This is just the first of a series of shots I took there and I love.

The 50mm seemed like the obvious choice here, but I decided to use the 80mm and "compress" the background more with the dunes. I thought it'd create a nice contrast between the two different types of landscape.