Different Faces of Dante's View

Dante's View at Death Valley National Park is a place with full of surprise. To the west, you can see the best panoramic view of Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range, as shown in the previous post. This is not all you can see! Move your feet! To the east is the beautiful mountain range - the view is magnificent at dawn, where back-lighting make the silhouette stand out. To the south is another lovely view - the soft light at dawn cast beautiful contrast on the hillside as well as golden rims on the grasses.

BTW, there is a cool article on USA Today - 20 reasons to visit dazzling Death Valley. Check this out, Death Valley maybe your next trip! I am sure you won't regret, this place is truly awesome!

Abstract Painting

When you stand on a point of 5476fts height (Dante's View) and look down at the North America's lowest point of 286fts below see level (Badwater Basin), you will be amaze with the majestic of our mother nature. To the West-Northwest from the Dante's view, Death Valley National Park, you will find the abstract painting-like landscape of Badwater Basin. The current view is formed by periodical flooding and evaporation, which lead to the redeposition of salt over the years and thus appear as the irregular pattern of salt crystals. 

BTW, Dante's View is a filming location in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The scene is where Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO approach a city in Mos Eisley and stop to watch the city from a view point, which is the Dante's View (Source: Wikipedia - Dante's View).

Dancing Waves

This image was taken at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes at Death Valley National Park. I love photographing sand dunes, you never know what can surprise you in particular time, location, weather and season. Winter is such a great time to visit Death Valley, and therefore filled up by crowd. It took quite some time to escape to a spot with no one and no footprint - if you plan to do that, bring a lot of water and be sure that you are able to find the way back. While scouting the landscape with my camera plus telephoto lens, I spotted this wonderful scene with the layers of sand dunes make up the dancing waves. I wait until the moment before sunset for the best light and freeze the moment with the shutter.

"Jupitoid" Landscape

At first glance, you might wonder if this is the surface of Jupiter - the giant spot, which resemble the great red spot of Jupiter, surrounded by colorful wavy clouds. Instead, it is the view of Badwater Basin taken from Dante's View, Death Valley National Park. We woke up at 4.30am and drove for an hour to reach this fantastic place for chasing the sunrise, and all the effort worth it! In addition to the grand panorama view of Panamint Range and Badwater Basin, there are unlimited of photography opportunity, particularly the abstract landscape of Badwater Basin and Panamint Range, from the height of 5476fts.

Dante's View, Death Valley National Park

Dante's View is a viewpoint terrace located about 25km (16 miles) south of Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. At the height of 1,669m (5,476 feet), Dante's View offer a magnificent panoramic view of various Death Valley geological formation. Particularly to the west, as shown in this picutre, Dante’s View offers the best panoramic view of Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range. From here, the highest and lowest points in the park - Telescope Peak 3,367m (11,047 feet) high and Badwater Basin −86m (−282 feet) can be seen. Badwater Basin is also the lowest point in North America. 

To capture the best light of Dante's View, we woke up at 4am and start driving from Amargosa Opera House & Hotel at Death Valley Junction. Despite the road toward Dante's View is paved, extra cautious is needed because it is narrow and winding. It took us about an hour to reach the peak of Dante's View. The view is breathtaking despite the bitter cold and windy due to the high elevation. This is a fantastic location for wide-angle landscape, as well as telephoto abstract photography. When the sun gradually rising from the horizon, the Panamint Range in the West is bathed with the warm alpenglow - it was when I press the shutter while enjoying the beauty of our mother nature.

Chasing the Light at Badwater Basin

These photos were taken in Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park. We walked about a mile from the parking lot into the polygonal salt flats to find a place that hasn't been trampled by the visitors. Once we were there, we scouted the area, searched for the interesting patterns, setting up the camera and tripod and wait for the best light.

These 2 photos were taken just about 30 minutes interval. The first photos were taken about 10 minutes before sunset - the golden hour. We often refer the first and last hour of sunlight during the day as golden hour or magic hour. At this time, the contrast is significantly reduced so the shadow and highlight are less likely to be underexposed and overexposed, respectively. In addition, the warm color of low angle sun heavily enhance the color and vibrancy of the scene. In this particular shot, the low angle sun cast a rim of warm light at the edge of protruded salt formations and also on the background mountain. The quality of light at this time is amazing although it doesn't last long.

The second photo were taken about 20 minutes after sunset - the blue hour. We often refer the period of twilight in the morning and evening as blue hour, where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness. We also call it sweet light because the quality of light is a gift for photographers. As a result, the bluish ambiance evokes a sense of peace and serenity.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Artist's Palette, Death Valley National Park

Artist's Drive are located in the Black Mountains in Death Valley National Park. It is a one-way 9 miles scenic drive that can be accessed from 8.55 miles south of Badwater Road and Route 190 intersection. The Artist's Drive itself is like a roller coaster as you wind through the narrow cliffs. The geological formation of Artist's Drive is awesome. It's also an evidence that the area has gone through a very active volcanic period in the past.

Artist's Palette is among the most spectacular view along Artist Drive, which is famous with its colorful rock. The colors is a result of the oxidation of different elements - red, pink and yellow is from iron salts, green is from decomposing tuff-derived mica, and purple is from manganese.

These colorful rock formations are very photogenic at anytime of the day, although the soft light during the dusk and dawn would be the best. To add the sense of scale, it is good to include a figure in the picture. If you look carefully at my first picture, you may find a little kid squats on the rock at the right edge of the picture. Interestingly, I didn't notice that until my photography buddy told me!

Golden Canyon, Death Valley National Park

Golden Canyon Trail is a short and easy hiking trail located 2 miles south of Highway 190 on Badwater Road in the Death Valley National Park, California. A short walk in the Golden Canyon trail gives an awesome montage of various geologic events in Death Valley's natural history. Looking closely at the rock formation and you will notice the layers that are composed of sediment of various size. Once upon a time, Golden Canyon was covered by lake. Over 5 million years of geological evolution, these rock formation transformed from the loose material into solid conglomerate, the uplift and erosion, and flash flooding exposed these formations that we seen today.

Golden Canyon is best visited and photographed at dawn and dusk. Nevertheless, the mid-day provide unlimited photography opportunities, particularly close-up and black-and-white photography. The geological formation is so diverse that you will be amazed with the patterns, textures and lines of the rock formation. This is a great place to photograph beyond the magic hour.