The Racetrack, Death Valley Nat'l Park, CA

Canon 5DMKII ~ f/8 ~ 25mm ~ 1/100sec ~ iso50

The story of this photograph itself isn't anything dramatic, it was all the preparation and execution to get to and from this remote part of Death Valley Nat'l Park.  Ever since we knew we were coming to Death Valley, I wanted to visit this part of the park.  However, it's fairly remote.  Like 28 mile, one way, on an unpaved road remote.  The stories of this road are legend...running out of gas, flat tires, engines blown, etc.  So, you can imagine the trepidation when considering doing this.

We decided if we were going to do this, we mine as well do it right.  So, we rented a jeep.  A nice red one with big tires so there's no chance of us getting a flat.  We headed out and began the journey leaving enough time for us to return before last light on the horizon.  And a bumpy road it was.  It was a bone shaking, teeth chattering ride the whole way!  When we got to the first part of the Racetrack, we began exploring the Grandstand (which was featured in a previous blog entry).  After the Grandstand, we travelled further down the road to actually find the moving rocks.  We found the area, but, decided to head back to the Grandstand because the light wasn't quite golden yet.  So, as we continued towards the Grandstand, we look off to our right and made out two figures walking out onto the dry lake bed.  We had to do a double take because we couldn't believe what we were seeing.  There were two men hiking out to the Grandstand.  Naked.  Well, they really were wearing hiking shoes and a backpack.  You get the picture.  We went to the parking lot, still in a little bit of shock and asked another couple who was there...."Are they??"..."Yep", they said.  Ok, then.

After we photographed the Grandstand a little more, we then headed back down the road to the Racetrack.  We hiked a short way out and began seeing all the moving rocks we so anxiously wanted to see.  It was truly amazing.  Nobody really knows how these rocks move and there were hundreds of them.  I wasn't sure which way to point my camera.

From a compositional perspective, I knew I wanted to emphasize the trail of the rocks in this landscape.  I experimented with several different compositions and this one turned out to be my favorite.  The late afternoon golden light enhanced the textures in this image.  You will often hear to take landscape photos early in the day or late at night.  This is a good example of that.  If this photo was taken in the middle of the day, the image would have been flat and lifeless.

Each Nat'l Park vacation, I pick one photo to enlarge and frame on my wall.  This is the one I choose from the trip and is also July's Calendar Photo.

Photo tip: Shoot just after sunrise and just before sunset.  Although you may have to rise early and/or possibly have a late dinner, it will be well worth it!

Good Light,

Bill

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