We have just returned back home from a trip to Las Vegas and Death Valley. The purpose of the trip was two-fold; to see Garth Brooks in Vegas and to photograph and scout out Death Valley for a possible future workshop location. Oh yes I guess there was a third reason, to escape Ottawa’s winter for a while!
I can’t believe that I had never visited Death Valley before this. Especially considering that this is the largest national park in the lower 48 states and that I have also probably been to every other area around there. Some how over the years I missed this “Photographers Paradise” of desolate, and stunningly beautiful landscapes!
Here are some of the photos that I took on our first day.
Pre-dawn at Zabriskie Point
Canon 5D MKII – Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX
2-stop Graduated Neutral Density Filter (soft step)
Canon 5D MKII – Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 APO
Artist’s Drive
Canon 5D MKII – Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 APO
Mesquite Sand Dunes
Canon 5D MKII – Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX
Canon 5D MKII – Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX
As a side note, this was my first trip (wheels up) with the Tamrac Evolution 8 Backpack. In our review of the bag Roxann had mentioned that the bag stands up, it doesn’t flop over. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it did when I was standing in the middle of all of that sand in the desert and wanted to put the backpack down…it made sense!
At the end of this trip, we decided that we just had to add Death Valley to our future workshop schedule. The diversity of the scenery, as well as some of the most beautiful and unique photographic vistas imaginable are just waiting for us!
