US West Death Valley Photography Trip February 24-28th, 2021 (rescheduled)

I also highly recommend a tripod and ballhead that you trust, if you don't have one already. We'll be spending a lot of time waiting for light after framing up shots, and a tripod makes that much easier.

And learn from my almost disaster and make sure everything is well secured. I had my $500 ball head detach itself from my tripod after shooting at the Mesquite Dunes one morning, and lucky enough happened to turn around to see it lying in the sand 15 feet behind me...
 
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KLTH19 said:
I also highly recommend a tripod and ballhead that you trust, if you don't have one already. We'll be spending a lot of timing waiting for light after framing up shots, and a tripod makes that much easier.

And learn from my almost disaster and make sure everything is well secured. I had my $500 ball head detach itself from my tripod after shooting at the Mesquite Dunes one morning, and lucky enough happened to turn around to see it lying in the sand 15 feet behind me...
Click to expand...

I have a FEISOL CT-3372 & Kirk BH-1 Fairly Good Shape with those Two
 
Sylvester said:
KLTH19 said:
I also highly recommend a tripod and ballhead that you trust, if you don't have one already. We'll be spending a lot of timing waiting for light after framing up shots, and a tripod makes that much easier.

And learn from my almost disaster and make sure everything is well secured. I had my $500 ball head detach itself from my tripod after shooting at the Mesquite Dunes one morning, and lucky enough happened to turn around to see it lying in the sand 15 feet behind me...
Click to expand...

I have a FEISOL CT-3372 & Kirk BH-1 Fairly Good Shape with those Two
Click to expand...

I have a Feisol also - great tripod. I have an Acratech ultimate ball head - also very solid.
 
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Would prefer a Acratech - Just don't shoot as mush as I was
 
It looks like we've reached the signup limit - thanks to everyone who wants to join. Since we have a few months to go, if you haven't signed up already I'll start a waiting list.
 
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Ok so first things first. Someone should grab a copy of "DESERT PARADISE: The Landscape Photographer’s Guide To Death Valley National Park" by Sarah Marino & Ron Coscorrosa
Desert Paradise: The Landscape Photographer's Guide to Photographing Death Valley National Park — Nature Photo Guides This is one of the best photo guides I've read for any location. Specifically tailored to DVNP and the surrounding area. My group had 4 days in DVNP a few years ago and used this to plan what we could and could not reach in that time and with the rented rig we had available. Knowing that we would not have much cell service in the Park and none of us has been photographing DVNP before we preplanned a lot more than our normal trips.

Here is my listing a number of sites from the book that we used to map out as well as some other sites that we had heard about and were interested in visiting. I plugged these into a website that plotted and color coded them on a google map which we used for planning. the Group column will glob things in to general areas of the park for planning while you are in that area.

Number Site Desc. Group Lat Long
1 Badwater Basin Main parking area FC 36.23022996 -116.767017
2 Devil’s Golf Course Parking area FC 36.28584196 -116.826201
3 Artist’s Drive Artist’s Drive Entrance from Badwater Road FC 36.32992901 -116.830005
4n West Side Road Badwater Road and West Side Road - North FC 36.36611301 -116.844966
4s West Side Road Badwater Road and West Side Road – South FC 35.93775996 -116.704632
5 Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point parking area FC 36.42088397 -116.809555
6 Golden Canyon Golden Canyon parking area FC 36.420529 -116.846801
7 Twenty Mule Team Canyon Twenty Mule Team Canyon Pullout FC 36.391292 -116.778358
8 Dante’s View Dante’s View Parking Area FC 36.22085203 -116.726568
9 Cottonball Basin CA 190 Near Cottonball Basin FC 36.528983 -116.88297
10 Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes Parking SPW 36.60621665 -117.1153333
11 Mosaic Canyon Mosaic Canyon parking SPW 36.572135 -117.144342
12 Aguereberry Point Aguereberry Point Main Parking SPW 36.35788098 -117.04798
13a Ubehebe Crater Ubehebe Crater Parking Racetrack 37.01115998 -117.454721
13b Teakettle Junction Teakettle Junction Racetrack 36.75991503 -117.542613
13c Racetrack Playa Racetrack Playa near Grandstand Racetrack 36.69439604 -117.571609
13d Racetrack Playa Racetrack Playa near Sailing Stones Racetrack 36.66578097 -117.56819
14 Eureka Dunes Eureka Dunes Camp Ground Eureka Dunes 37.12925537 -117.6802254
15 Panamint Valley Northern access to Panamint Playa PV 36.35769096 -117.390678
16 Lee Flat Good Pulloff for Joshua Trees LF 36.47948496 -117.62026
17 Ibex Dunes Parking spot about 1 mile west of Dunes ID 35.69450397 -116.393696
o1 Harmony Borax Works Harmony Borax Works parking area FC 36.48289907 -116.8729448
o2 Salt Creek Interpretive Trail Salt Creek Interpretive Trail Parking FC 36.59058097 -116.990514
o3 Devil’s Cornfeld Pulloff for Devil’s Cornfeld SPW 36.6260158 -117.0561504
o4 Natural Bridge Natural Bridge Parking FC 36.28195589 -116.7698193
o5 Father Crowley Point Father Crowley Point Parking PV 36.35145701 -117.550997
o6 Darwin Falls Darwin Falls Trailhead PV 36.32826011 -117.5147116
o7 Wildrose Area Charcoal Kilns SPW 36.24801112 -117.0761489
o8 Titus Canyon Beatty NV Beatty 36.86218004 -116.8473244
o9 Scotty’s Castle Scotty’s Castle NE 37.03157599 -117.3415375
o10 Rhyolite ghost Town Rhyolite Beatty 36.90313334 -116.82905
o12 Leadfeld ghost Town Leadfeld NE 36.86396547 -117.0570946
o13 Skidoo Ghost Town Skidoo SPW 36.43882314 -117.1460152
o14 Eureka Mine / Harrisburg Mining Sites SPW 36.35726674 -117.0617723
o15 Ballarat Ballarat PV 36.04868258 -117.2265244

to be continued...

Boort
 
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Continued from previous post.


We went in spring and flew in to a 10 year storm in Vegas the storm washed out the roads cutting off both Racetrack playa and Ibex Dunes. Here are my notes on what we actually got to shoot:
Note we pulled in the times and compass headings for Sun/Moon/MilkyWay Core (the MYGC will be below the horizion for you in Dec but you'll have lots of other celestial options.)


Saturday 8:30 AM Land & get car


Provisions

Drive to Death Valley

(LV - DV 120 Miles, 2 hours )
2:00 PM Scout Zabriskie Point on way to Furnace Creek

(Zabriskie Point - Furnace Creek 5 miles, 10 mins)
2:45 PM Go to visitor’s center

Set up camp in Furnace Creek
4:00 PM Scout Cottonball Basin

(FC - CottonBall Basin 6 miles, 10 Mins)
5:30 PM Scout and Sunset 7:34p at dunes

(FC - Mesquite Dunes Lot on CA 190 23 miles, 28 Mins)
8:30 PM Head back to Furnace Creek for Dinner & nap
9:10 PM Blue hour ends
11:30 PM galactic core@ 126.5 degrees, on horizon, low arc

Shoot MW Cottonball Basin

(FC - CottonBall Basin 6 miles, 10 Mins)

Move before 2:30 am and Shoot Milky Way () at Mesquite dunes, through Sunday 2:36 AM @ 103.2 degrees Moon rise for side-lighting on dunes. This is our only good night to get 2 hours of MW with moon side-lighting. Dunes would seem to benefit the most from that kind of light? At 2:30 am the galactic core will be 45 degrees off of the angle of moon rise.

Maximum MW galactic core height in sky is 24.5 degrees at 3:44 am (not very far up in sky)
3:30 AM Cat nap in car 3:30am - 5:30am?
5:26 AM Blue Hour begins; 5:37 am Golden hour begins
5:37 AM Golden hour begins
5:54 AM 70.2 degrees Shoot Sunrise at Dunes OR move back to Zabriskie for sunrise

(MD - Zabriskie 27.5 miles, 31 mins)
7:00 AM Back to Furnace Creek for breakfast and sleep

(Zabriskie Point - Furnace Creek 5 miles, 10 mins)


Sunday 5/1 Night - Monday 5/2 Morning

Sunday 1:30 PM Scout Badwater/West side road loop for sunrise/sunset/MW

* Scout down West Side Rd to Salt Well after that do we need high clearance ???

* May need to stay on Bad Water Rd for time.

Salt Well

* Option Ashford Mill ruins south of junction

Ashford Mill

(FC - Ashford Mill 45 miles, 2:20 mins via West Side Rd

FC - Ashford Mill 45 miles, 1:10 mins via Badwater Rd)

Devil’s Golf Course

(13.5 miles 20 mins from FC)

Option Artist’s Palette

(9.8 miles 13 mins to turn off from FC

4.5 miles 10 mins from turn off to Artist’s Palette)
6:00 PM Furnace Creek pool & shower, dinner and rest

Shoot selected sites on West Side Rd / Badwater loop for
7:35 PM Sunset @ 290.1 degrees
9:11 PM Blue Hour Ends
11:28 PM MW galactic core rises at 126.5 degrees. Shoot dark skies through moonrise. Monday 3:55 AM Moonrise
4:16 AM MW galactic core sets at 185.4 degrees. Not much option for moonlight plus MW tonight.
3:30 AM Cat nap in car -- Set alarm for enough time to get to Sunrise spot
5:26 AM Blue Hour begins; 5:37 am golden hour begins
5:37 AM Golden hour begins
5:53 AM Sunrise
7:00 AM Back to Furnace Creek for breakfast and sleep


Monday 5/2 Night - Tuesday 5/3

Monday 12 Noon Pack up FC camp

Drive through Stovepipe get lunch

Drive to new campgrounds Thorndike or Mahogany Flat

(FC - Mah.Flat 64 miles, 1:34 mins)

Check out kilns on way to campground

(FC - Kilns 62.3 miles, 1:30 mins)

Setup Camp
6:30 PM Drive to Aguereberry Point
7:36 PM Shoot sunset at Aguereberry Point
8:30 PM Snack & nap
9:10 PM Blue hour ends
11:28 PM MW Rise: same as other nights. Due to time of moon rise, not much option for moon side lighting tonight either. Tuesday 3:55 AM Packup / Drive to Rhyolite Ghost Town
5:52 AM
Sunrise Rhyolite Ghost Town

6:30 AM Sleep -- Set alarm for 11:45 ish
12:30 PM
Drive back to LV via US-95 South
(Rhyolite - LV 120 Miles, 2:30 hours )





Looks like you'll have great waining moon for night scapes and stars for those who enjoy more than sunset/sunrise light.
Dec Moon Rise heading Moon set illumination
10 2:03 am (95°) 1:55 pm (262°) 21.6%
11 3:15 am (103°) 2:29 pm (254°) 12.3%
12 4:28 am (110°) 3:08 pm (248°) 5.4%
13 5:42 am (116°) 3:53 pm (242°) 1.1%

Let me know if you have any more questions I have more notes but would need something to target my lookups.
 
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KLTH19 said:
If we're very lucky on this trip we'll get some good weather for photography - better chance of that in winter. Here are some more photos from my previous trips to give you an idea of what's possible if you don't have to deal with clear blue skies. In the first one it was actually snowing at Racetrack Playa.

View attachment 164839

And this was a quick shot taken on the way out of the park when the conditions just became magical.

View attachment 164840
Click to expand...
Beautiful picture!
Looking forward to this trip.
 
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A note to everyone on how I expect the trip to pan out. My goal is to have everyone in the best locations at the best times - at least as much as we can fit in in the time allowed. Beyond that, I'm happy to provide photography advice if you need it, and I'll leave you alone if you don't.

Right now I'm working on the day to day routes that will get us to great locations and convenient camping spots (i.e. not staying 90 minutes from a sunrise location as I've sometimes ended up doing in the past!). Time between the best light at sunrise and sunset will be spent getting to locations, stopping off at interesting locations because they happen to be on the way, or doing some scouting. I want to make sure that nobody feels rushed on this trip, as that's not the best recipe for making your best work. There will be no tough offroading, and no hikes beyond a couple of miles, but please bring 'good shoes' for yourself and your rig. For anyone who hasn't been to Death Valley before, expect that there will be no cellphone reception 95% of the time - plan on having a portable HAM radio that you can take into the field so we can continue to communicate if needed.

I'll share more details of the itinerary soon, but in the meantime please feel free to ask me about any aspect of the trip that isn't clear yet.
 
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Just keep on doing what your Planning - We can do a Few Hard trails I had a Cherokee and That thing can do some Crazy Stuff
 
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A couple of reminders to anyone who plans to join the trip -

1. No drone flying allowed in National Parks (Death Valley included)
2. Be sure to have a way to recharge the batteries for your camera
 
All,

A tip that I just remembered looking at the lead photo for this trip and the discussion around tripods.

Bring some heavy duty aluminum foil and plastic wrap when planning to shoot on any of the salt flats, devils golf course and Badwater Basin. There are some caustic metal-salts that do serious damage to carbon fiber. We wrapped the lower leg section of the tripods in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap then 2 layers of foil. We'd replace the foil each time we left a site and got back in the car to keep the salts from getting alover inside the car and our gear bags. (used foil into the double hefty bag for safe keeping.)
A friend had given me this information before my trip and we all followed it had no damage to our tripods.

Now the sneakers that I wore for 1 day in Badwater Basin while my hikers were drying out had a small CF insert in the sole. This patch of CF was completely eaten away after just a short walk scouting for night photo sites in the basin.

Boort
 
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Boort said:
All,

A tip that I just remembered looking at the lead photo for this trip and the discussion around tripods.

Bring some heavy duty aluminum foil and plastic wrap when planning to shoot on any of the salt flats, devils golf course and Badwater Basin. There are some caustic metal-salts that do serious damage to carbon fiber. We wrapped the lower leg section of the tripods in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap then 2 layers of foil. We'd replace the foil each time we left a site and got back in the car to keep the salts from getting alover inside the car and our gear bags. (used foil into the double hefty bag for safe keeping.)
A friend had given me this information before my trip and we all followed it had no damage to our tripods.

Now the sneakers that I wore for 1 day in Badwater Basin while my hikers were drying out had a small CF insert in the sole. This patch of CF was completely eaten away after just a short walk scouting for night photo sites in the basin.

Boort
Click to expand...
That's interesting. I've never had a problem like that with my CF tripod after many visits to those areas - I completely dismantled, cleaned, lubed and reassembled it recently and it was in great shape. One thing in my experience that can be a problem though is getting sand in the legs, which can cause scratches.
 
For the areas that have terrain with sharp edges that will cut (i.e. Devil Golf Course, etc.) I have found that in addition to having good boots that thick knee pads are also a good idea if you are doing any low height tripod setups and need to get on the ground.
 
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KLTH19 said:
That's interesting. I've never had a problem like that with my CF tripod after many visits to those areas - I completely dismantled, cleaned, lubed and reassembled it recently and it was in great shape. One thing in my experience that can be a problem though is getting sand in the legs, which can cause scratches.
Click to expand...

Neither had I. I have no qualms running my tripod on the beach and in salt water. Just disassemble and give a good cleaning.

After seeing what happened to my shoes I'm glad that we wrapped the lower legs. We did notice that when we tossed the foil that it was getting corroded and had lots of little pinholes with white around them. That almost looked like what happens when you introduce Gallium or Mercury to Aluminum. So I'm wondering if they are mixed into the salts in a high enough concentration.


Boort
 
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