Death Valley

Liquid Light • Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, California

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Badwater, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Salt Flats, sunset, Twilight Photography  4 Responses »
Jan 202012
 

Liquid Light • Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This will be my last post for about a week or so. I am heading out to the Grand Canyon for a combination work and shooting trip. I will be at the South Rim for a few days and then heading up to Page for a trip into Canyon X and some photo exploration with Tony Kuyper. The 10-day weather forecast looks promising to finally get into Canyon X. I was thwarted on my last attempt when a large front moved over the Page area killing off all the light. Tony and I are planning a little exploration of the Painted Desert and a jaunt through Cathedral Wash down to the Colorado River.

Today’s image is affectionately named “Liquid Light”. This was shot on my recent trip to Death Valley with my pals Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. As you may have noticed from recent posts we were blessed with incredible shooting conditions, amazing light, and clouds. Epic clouds to be more exact. This image, shot at Salt Creek, was made in the late afternoon as the sun was setting over the Panamint Range, just behind my camera position. The sky event was happening on both sides and it was difficult to choose where to shoot. There were just so many options. The three of us must have looked like ants after a picnic basket as we scurried about framing compositions. The clouds sent long tendrils over the salt flats. Driven by upper level winds the clouds resembled a liquid spill in the sky. As the sun moved lower reflected light illuminated the clouds and carried their reflection in the water below. Sky and earth seemed to meld into one. We continued to shoot well into Civil Twilight just enjoying the light show.

Technical Details: This image is a blend of two bracketed exposures. One for the foreground and one for the sky. Each image was processed in Adobe Lightroom and opened as layers in Photoshop for final work. I created a Channel Mask to seamlessly blend the two exposures before applying my final curves and color adjustments.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you back here soon.

Bob

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A Thin Line of Light – Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, Ca

 California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography  2 Responses »
Jan 152012
 

A Thin Line of Light, Death Valley National Park, Ca

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The other day I glanced at the image count in the Lightroom Database for all the shots I took on my recent Death Valley trip. Alec, Travis and I had 8 total shooting sessions. The amount of time we shot during each session varied based on the quality of the light. In general though we shoot early morning sunrise and late afternoon to evening sunset. During the day we scouted, ate, downloaded and backed up images, and other housekeeping details. So the final image count which included brackets of the same shot to ensure I had all the data needed to process the RAW files was 1795 shots. That works out to an average of 224.375 shots per shooting session. I am still scratching my head on this one. The numbers from the camera do not lie. But I for the life of me just do not remember shooting that much. But in a recent discussion with Alec we did conclude that the overall quality of light and shooting conditions we encountered was extraordinary. In addition Death Valley offers so many compositional possibilities. The end result we surmise was a perfect storm of shooting conditions.

Of course this does not mean that every shot I took was a winner. This is far from possible. But there were a lot. And Alec and Travis and I do agree that pound for pound we all got more keepers than we normally would get on an average shooting trip. The trip was also a bit of a departure for me in terms of how I shot. I began to look beyond just the shot and consider the processing possibilities. In the past, and this is based largely on my days with a 4 x 5 camera, I would seek to capture intact the shot I saw. I used whatever filters and other conventional means at the time to effect that capture. In Death Valley, save for occasional use of my trusty Warming Polarizer, I left all my filters in the bag. I did not employ a single Split Neutral Density. Instead of fumbling with the filters I was free to really shoot and explore potential compositions. And apparently shoot I did. The door opened and a thin line of light led me down a different path. I set my camera to record bracket sets in one-stop, and on occasion 2/3-stop, increments, composed and shot. The freedom allowed me time to watch the light and react to changing conditions. Quite honestly it was liberating.

Today’s image came from one of my bracket sets. I passed this over several times before returning to process the RAW files. Here I was drawn to the convergence of lines of water into a single flow that disappeared into the horizon. The water was beautifully illuminated by the rising sun, and for me, came to represent my new path. I do not know how long I will be here. Such is the nature of photography. But for now I will just follow the light.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Sunset in the Alabama Hills – Lone Pine, Ca

 Adobe Lightroom, Alabama Hills, California, Death Valley, Desert, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Mountains, Photography Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, sunset, The Alabama Hills, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  No Responses »
Jan 102012
 

Sunset in the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. On my recent trip to Death Valley my intrepid friends Alec Johnson, Travis Bechtel and I were kindly treated to some amazing sunrise and sunset conditions. This is the kind of light and cloud cover you hope to have for at least one shooting session. We had it everyday save for one, and that was the last morning we shot at Zabriske Point. Today’s image defines some of the incredible skies we had during our shooting excursions. The image was made in the Alabama Hills, a collection of rock monoliths and boulder fields, situated above the town of Lone, Pine, Ca. The area is known as the Gateway to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. On the trip over from Death Valley we saw the clouds build up and once we dropped into the valley on the eastern side of the Sierra’s we knew we might be in for another treat. Well, we were not disappointed. The show ramped up in the late afternoon and soon went into overload as the sun disappeared behind the massive Sierra Range. For a very brief period of time the light flattened out on the landscape but within 10 minutes into Civil Twilight the scene re-lighted and the rocks glowed with the reflected light from the sky. By this time all of us had spread out to compose and shoot. Even after an afternoon of scouting it was a hectic time as we were scrambling to create memorable images. To give you a sense of scale if you look between the “crab claw” formation you will just make out the silhouette of my buddy Travis. We only had one afternoon to spend here and for all of us it was not enough. But we left invigorated by the experience and the place.

Technical Details: As you might imagine the dynamic range of this scene was pretty intense. To compensate I made a five shot bracket at 1 stop intervals and chose two images from the set to process. The two RAW files, one for the foreground and one for the sky, were processed in Lightroom and combined in Photoshop using a Channel Mask for blending. From there it followed my usual workflow of masks, color corrections, and sharpening.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Sunset at Badwater – Death Valley National Park, California

 California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Salt Flats, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  2 Responses »
Jan 032012
 

Sunset at Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am just back, this very morning at 3:00 am to be exact, from a shooting trip to Death Valley with Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. To say we shot up the place would be an understatement. We spent nearly every waking hour out in the landscape shooting from early morning to late in the evening. It was what a photography trip with best friends is all about-photography, friendship, and camaraderie. The jokes and shenanigans were non-stop. And of course there was a little photography along the way. In nearly three and a half days and 10 separate shooting sessions I managed to exhaust 10 compact flash cards and log over 100 gigs in files. The weather was amazing and we had beautiful clouds for many of our shoots.

With so many images it was hard to know where to begin. So the easiest place I think is from the beginning. This image was shot on our first evening in the park. On the way in to the park we stopped and photographed some interesting mountains and clouds but the main goal was to get down into the flats for twilight. The Badwater Salt Flats are one of the lowest places on earth. Summer temperatures can reach better than 115 degrees and the heat leaches all the moisture out of the ground. In the harsh light of midday the flats are unremarkable. But at twilight they become soft and other-worldly. Here the white salt glows with the reflected color of the sky and clouds. Undefined ridges catch the highlights and reveal the intricate patterns embedded in the flats. Out here the lack of noise is deafening. It is so quiet you can here a pin drop. This valley extends for many miles up the spine of Death Valley and includes many incredible geologic formations. This was a fitting place to start our adventures.

Stay tuned for more images from this trip. And check out Alec Johnson’s and Travis Bechtel’s websites for their images.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Sunset on the Flats – Death Valley National Park

 California, Death Valley, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  4 Responses »
Dec 192011
 

Sunset on the Flats, Death Valley National Park, California.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. My apologies for my apparent lack of attention to the blog but the last month has been quite busy. I have also been spending a good bit of time on my site over on Google Plus which has been very exciting. I have made quite a few new connections with the photography community resulting in new friendships and shooting opportunities. And speaking of shooting opportunities today’s post is a teaser. This image was shot nearly 10 years ago on my first trip to Death Valley. It also marked the first time that I shot with my 4 x 5 camera and Fuji Velvia film. Photography has really advanced since those early days with the large format camera. Today digital photography affords the opportunity to shoot more often, the freedom to experiment, and the ability to capture a broader dynamic range in my images. But my 4 x 5 work set the ground work for how I shoot today. Even with my digital cameras I use many of the compositional concepts that I learned with large format cameras.

Next week I will return to Death Valley with my tow buds, Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. Next week I will return to the scene where the landscape photography “light” was turned on. The weather forecast looks great and I will be with two good friends. How much better can it get. In my mind this is what photography is really all about. Oh to be sure, I do like to be in these beautiful places. There will be no argument there. But to be out and sharing the experience with good friends is the driving force. Photography has brought me many joys. But it is this connection to the community at large that has been the biggest draw. It took years for me to understand this concept. And over on G+ it just gets better and better. But don’t worry I will still bring new images here, to this forum.

As the holidays approach I wish each and everyone of you good cheer. I appreciate in so many ways each and every visitor to this site. I started this blog two years ago to help promote my website. Along the way however I found out that I actually have a voice. The blog has helped my with that discovery and was the first step in connecting to the larger community as a whole. I thank all of you for visiting and supporting this site.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Canham 4 x 5 Field Camera fitted with a Schneider 90mm XL Lens. The image was shot with Fuji Velvia 50 film at f22 for 8 seconds. I used a Singh-Ray 3-Stop, Soft Edge Split Neutral Density Filter in the sky to balance out the exposure.

I’ll see you back here in the new year.

Bob

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