Back to gallery

Panic at the Disco

I really REALLY wanted a Dunes image from Death Valley. Especially after Steve ran over the tarantula that I was going to use as my FG comp. Ok... in fairness I took us on a road that was so bad, 3 off-road motorcycles in front of us turned around. Well thanks to my navigational failures, we missed The Racetrack, so I guess we are even. I just knew that without getting a sunrise shot of a Dune, I would go away from Death Valley empty handed.

 

So we selected our respective Dunes and waited for sunrise. When dawn broke, it became obvious that this was going to be a special morning in the desert. An EPIC sunrise unfolded; pinks, oranges, reds, and purples were just ripping across the sky. I settled into my shot... and realized I was facing completely the wrong way. I scurried forward about 50 yards to find a comp where the lines went into the sun, and quickly realized that it was worse, so I went back to my camera. It then dawned on me that I had just stomped footprints through my comp. Sigh. So I began to run. Up dunes, down dunes, through dunes, trying desperately to find a good comp that faced the exploding sky and was devoid of foot prints. Steve Turner was perched high atop some dune, completely unmoving. I knew I was in trouble. Finally as the sun was rising, I just turned and started shooting a worthless series of shots that I knew I would trash.

 

Absolutely devastated and exhausted, with lenses, bags, and my water bottle all in varies sections of Death Valley, I retreated in defeat. Then I happened to turn around and saw this. I grabbed my camera and scrambled up a ridge... realized I had the wrong lens and scrambled down the ridge. Got my 24-70 and scrambled back up the ridge. Gasped for breath and fired off a few frames. I don't know who this guy was, but I appreciate him climbing that dune for me.

 

As for Steve, I thoroughly ruined every single image he shot, which made me quite pleased. Of the 100+ images he captured, I was in a different spot in the frame for every single one of them. You're welcome.

 

Death Valley is a pretty neat place, and one that requires much more exploring. It also is a place where you better learn how to make a collect call, because payphones are the only method of communication. I dialed 0 and hoped for the best.

 

I guess I'm not supposed to put my website address here, so it's in My Profile if anyone cares.

27,945 views
111 faves
370 comments
Uploaded on November 4, 2009
Taken in October 2009