On the morning of day 3 of the Death Valley photography workshop, the weatherman called for rain and wind. With that in mind we decided that Zabriskie Point would present the best opportunities for sunrise and hoped to get a few good black and white photographs of the badlands. When we left for Zabriskie at 5:15 it was windy as anticipated. But overhead it looked like a few stars were twinkling although it was hard to tell for sure in the dark night sky with the Stovepipe Wells Village parking lot lights shining in our eyes.
But as we drove the 30 miles or so to Zabriskie Point it started to become clear that we just might be in for a nice sunrise. There appeared to be shadows of a few clouds but by in large we had pretty clear skies.
When we arrived it was indeed windy and although the temperature wasn’t that low (only low 50s or high 40s) the wind prompted most of us to put on gloves and pull up our hoods. But by now the sky in the east was beginning to glow and we could see that we were in for a sunrise that was more than just ‘nice.’
We divided up into two groups and picked our locations. The previous evening the attendees had requested that Jack and I set up our photos and think out loud so they would know what was going through our minds. So we did just that. We talked about composition, exposure, focus, the light, the wind, the rapidly changing conditions, everything that came into our heads. We talked non-stop to the point where I had to ask my group if I was talking too much. They assured me that I wasn’t and asked me to continue.
Well, the photography was great. The morning proved to be very special, not a black and white morning at all. When the sun finally started warming the Panamints across the way we started clicking. The light conditions changed rapidly and we were constantly adjusting exposures and compositions to try not to miss a thing. When it was done I think we all came away with some really good photos.
After the frenzied action of sunrise subsided we had a chance to talk about the morning and the things we learned. The topic of image stabilization (vibration reduction) came up and I commented that the original image stabilization device was the tripod. Jack and I then demonstrated how the tripod can be used for this, even when you needed to get a shot of quickly and didn’t have the time to carefully set it up.
So in the end, the third morning of our Death Valley workshop turned out to be a great success in vivid color and far better than we had hoped for the night before.
Join me on an upcoming workshop.
To see more of my photographs click here.