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Death Valley



behind the lens badge

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Awards

Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Contest Finalist in The Creators Exhibition
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Around The World Photo Contest Digital Camera World
Contest Finalist in Desert Views Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in People In Large Areas Photo Contest
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Featured
People's Choice in Alone in a famous place Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Landscapes And People Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Nature And Myself Photo Contest
Runner Up in Sand Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Sand Photo Contest
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Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Natalierosedodd jannadejesusdesacula robynstevens tracykaycarter Igor1 leechiveralls jamierickson +74
Top Choice
Omidostadhosein mikewinslow jszurgot kathystanding Audreydeydey hiijayarccabrillos ronchapman +69
Outstanding Creativity
kadeelynnnorton Laney_508 blackburnphotography1 Stomp Raelyn heatherhuntsman67 eitharaldibs +45
Magnificent Capture
SparrowFarts JayneBug TLien FrancoisHorne fineartphotography FlatMat DanielArrellanes +21
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Pauldc1 dr_lensman ahmadshirazi sebastianmuglia leonhugo SeektheShot sanchezjosmanuel +1
Genius
texaaronpueschel D-Munn Jacqui68 WorldofBeauty
Exceptional Contrast
jonhill tingo
Love it
MaxMontella
Jaw Dropping
AustinGal

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Impressed
johnejaife fabs leighlofgren enriquerodriguezvzquez robertstandingeaglemarshall
Happy
ankurgahlot

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15 Comments | Report
stviewbug
 
stviewbug June 05, 2014
I like to go there
kathymuhle PRO+
 
kathymuhle February 21, 2015
Great entry - voted tiny people
valeriemurchie-stolpe
 
valeriemurchie-stolpe June 08, 2015
Fabulous! voted
carolcardillo PRO+
 
carolcardillo October 30, 2015
Excellent. Congrats on being Runner-Up!
nandicmb
 
nandicmb November 21, 2015
Congratulations on all your wins!!
edandaniphone PRO+
 
edandaniphone December 13, 2015
Amazing.
Chono_Wolf
 
Chono_Wolf January 14, 2016
Great picture! Where is it?
BOULENGER
 
BOULENGER February 13, 2016
viewbug.com/challenge/alone-in-a-famous-place-photo-challenge-by-boulenger
I would be happy if you could join my first challenge, "Alone in a famous place". Thank you in advance :)
catherinethompson PRO+
 
catherinethompson March 24, 2016
Magnificent. I love it.
BOULENGER
 
BOULENGER March 24, 2016
Your are the winner of people's choice in my challenge "alone in a famous place". I am very pleased for this choice. It is a real great shot ! Congrats !
victoriagosher
 
victoriagosher June 26, 2016
Beautiful landscape.
spylaw01
 
spylaw01 December 03, 2016
Tremendous showing of how small we really are
CharlieV
 
CharlieV December 11, 2016
Great image
Silverdarkness Platinum
 
Silverdarkness October 16, 2017
The day stared out at 3 am in Las Vegas. I trouped through the slot machines in my hiking boots, tripod, camera bag, and backpack, ignoring the stares of gambler's and escorts hanging onto the arms of 21-year old boys. I needed to get to Death Valley to capture just the right light. Hotter than hell that day.
Vash01Photo Platinum
 
Vash01Photo June 04, 2021
I invite you to enter my challenge Death Valley National park
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

Death Valley, just west of Stove Pipe Wells Village.

Time

18 May 2010, mid morning, before the sun rose high enough to fully expose the mountains behind the sand dunes.

Lighting

Optimum lighting was about to disappear so I opted to take the image of a person on the dunes, rather than finish hiking out to the dunes. Even in May, the early morning temperatures were beginning to quickly rise.

Equipment

Nikon D-300, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens, shot at 300 mm. Gitzo GT1541T, carbon fibre tripod with Markins Q3 ball head. Obviously, no flash

Inspiration

I had always wanted to go back to Death Valley since my mother drove us three boys through it in the mid-1950's. So while on a trip through Nevada (staying in Las Vegas for two nights on my way to a friend's college graduation) I woke up at 2:30 am, walked through the casino with hiking gear,water bottles, tripod, camera bags, etc to drive to Zabriskie Point in time for sunrise. The looks I got from the late night gamblers and their "escorts" was the first highlight of the long trip to Death Valley. Upon seeing the desert floor from Zabriskie Point, I rushed down to capture the sand dunes image and didn't leave until after 7 pm

Editing

Added a little clarity and a smidge of saturation using Lightroom.

In my camera bag

At the time this image was taken: Nikon D-750, Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, Micro Nikkor 105mm, f/2.8, Nikkor TC 20E doubler, Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, Nikkor GP-1A GPS transmitter, two battery chargers, Gitzo GT1541T, carbon fibre tripod with Markins Q3 ball head. Nikon Speedlight SB-800 with rechargeable batteries, assorted filters. In 2016, I switched to a Sony mirrorless system. Currently the a6600, but plan to add a full-frame a7RVII.

Feedback

ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD. Get up early enough to capture the sunrise, generally avoid mid-day since the light is flat most times unless interesting weather is happening, stay onsite until the golden hours in the late afternoon. Use apps like The Photographer's Ephemeris http://photoephemeris.com to figure out ahead of time when and more importantly, where the sun will rise and set. Also moon rise and set. Recently I think they have added Milky Way projections.

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