Death Valley, December 2004
In mid-December, 2004, we were in Las Vegas for
some business meetings and an early holiday party. On one of the
days, we decided to take a drive out to Death Valley and see the sights.
That year, there'd been quite a lot of rain, and so the lakes and
brackish pools remained full, even that late. (We even got word
that some of the roads were closed due to flooding.)
We still got some very nice shots, all of these
taken with the Canon 10D digital SLR. We got there in the early
afternoon, and stayed until around 4:00pm. Being that late in the
year, the low sun made for almost perfect shadows.
Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized photos; picture sizes vary from
125k to 490k.
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Badwater Lake, which exists only during those seasons in Death Valley before the water all evaporates |
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As the water levels go down, salt deposits build up |
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As water evaporates, the minerals precipitate in these patterns of salt--and still life finds a way to exist in it |
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Eventually the water evaporates completely, leaving a rime of salt crystals on the ground |
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Death Valley dune patterns and tenacious life |
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Panorama of dunes, scrub, and a ragged ridge beyond |
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Hardpan ground in the late afternoon |
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Many, many creatures live in the desert, as shown by their tracks |
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B&W photo showing several overlaid patterns and textures |
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Talcum-fine powder sometimes simply collapses under its own weight |
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A tangle of light and shadow on the dunes |
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An austere Death Valley ridge, in black-and-white |
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An artist's equipment in its natural setting (yes, that's a 4x5 viewcamera) |
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