Death Valley 2003
Canon D60, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L, ISO 100
In March 2003 I went to Death Valley on another workshop with Steve Kossack. After my Sedona trip with Steve I couldn't wait to get back in the field with him. The other photographers in the group were Rich Wagner and Joe Graham. The plan was to meet at Thrifty Car Rental at the Las Vegas Airport. I left home the afternoon of March 19th. I drove to Valley of Fire State Park which is about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas. I camped there in the back of my truck and planned to shoot sunrise the next day. I had never been there before, but had read the Photograph America issue on it. I ended up wandering around in the pre-dawn trying to figure what would be a good spot. I ended up shooting a lot of film, but didn't really get much I liked. It would have helped if I could have arrived before dark and explored a bit. When the light was gone (actually quite a bit after the light was gone) I headed in to Las Vegas. I met Steve and we drove to the car rental area. After going through the usual forms, it turned out they didn't have the vehicle we needed and that Steve had reserved. Instead of hanging around waiting for one to show up I volunteered my Yukon. We loaded up and headed out. The drive to Death Valley from Las Vegas takes you past many restricted government installations. Another photographer met us in Stovepipe Wells late that night. It turns out he had stopped to photograph some of the distant mountains with his tripod and long lens. In a few minutes he was surrounded by military police and had to explain what he was doing. They ended up looking at all his images (fortunately he was shooting digital) and then let him go. If you remember, this is the day following our first attack on Baghdad. On to the photography. We stayed in a motel in Stovepipe Wells. We shot the dunes there at sunrise and sunset. We also went to Aguereberry Point, Rhyolite ghost town, Titus Canyon, the Racetrack, Zabriskie Point, and Dante's View. We spent time in between downloading cards, charging batteries, checking out some of the tourist locations and just having a good time. It was a great trip. March was a perfect time to go. One morning it was 31° on one of the points at sunrise and 92° at Badwater (282 feet below sea level) in the afternoon. I highly recommend Death Valley and Steve Kossack. Joe and Rich were great fun and I enjoyed being with them and learning from them as well. Follow the links below to my images. Here are some of Steve's pictures from this trip. Here are some examples of Rich Wagner's work. If I get a link to some of Joe's stuff I'll add that as well.
For all my images of this trip including ones not in this gallery check my Image Catalog under Death Valley 03 and Valley of Fire O3.