Tag: Death Valley National Park

Seven-Years Ago (25-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 6: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

On the second day of the workshop we started the day before sunrise at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Fortunately, this was not very far from Stove Pipe Wells where we spent the night. We did have to hike in the dark from the parking lot to the sand dunes. This was the reason Michael had geomarked the trail the day before.  If you are going to do this remember to bring along a flashlight or headlamp, and watch out for sidewinder rattlesnakes It also was a bit chilly out. All of the images have been re-processed with Capture One Pro, including conversion to B&W.

Individual images from the slide-show can be viewed here.

Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)
Hey – The Moon is Behind You!!! Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes. Death Valley National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens. (David J Mathre)






 

Seven-Years Ago (24-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 5: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

I rode into Death Valley with Michael Mariant. We made an initial stop at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes prior to the start of the workshop, so Michael could geomark a trail for the next day.  The photography workshop group  met up at Furnace Creek. After lunch and an orientation session, we spent the afternoon at  Dante’s View, Golden Valley trail, and the Devil’s Golf Course. There still was some snow on the ground at Dante’s View — 5476 ft (1669 m) above sea level. The Devil’s Golf Course is only a few feet above the lowest point (282 feet below sea level) in the National Park (and the Continental United States). You have to be careful when in the Devil’s Golf Course as the halite crystals are very sharp — which I learned the hard way. While squatting to take a picture, I managed to cut a big hole in my favorite pair of lightweight linen pants.





Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.

Seven-Years Ago (12-May-2009) — California

Gone to See America 2009 Road Trip. Day 5: Cedar City, Utah to Ridgecrest, California including Death Valley National Park.

Three rusted metal drums in the desert. Eureka Mine in Death Valley National Park, California. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). Image converted to B&W with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Three Drums in the Desert at Eureka Mine in Death Valley National Park, California. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). Image converted to B&W with Nik Silver Efex Pro (David J. Mathre)
Three rusted metal drums in the desert. Eureka Mine in Death Valley National Park, California. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/6 sec). (David J. Mathre)

One-Year Ago (24-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 5: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

Comparison of Panorama Programs. There are several commercial programs that will combine digital images to provide panorama views. During a recent Nikonians Academy Workshop in Death Valley, I took several images from Dante’s View that I have now processed with Autopano Giga and PTGui. Photoshop CS5 was not able to successfully process the images into a panorama view. Notice the snow from the previous storm under the cactus in the foreground. The four images were acquired with a Nikon D3x camera and 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec).

Panorama from Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using PTGui. (David J Mathre)
Panorama from Dantes View in Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using PTGui 7816 x 6812 pixels
Panorama from Dante's View, Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Panorama from Dantes View, Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using AutoPano Giga Pro 9294 x 7337 pixels
Panorama from Dantes View, Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using AutoPano Giga Pro including the Neutralhazer plugin. (David J Mathre)
Panorama from Dantes View, Death Valley National Park. Composite of 4 images taken with a Nikon D3x and 24 mm PC-E lens (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/16, 1/100 sec). Panorama created using AutoPano Giga Pro including the Neutralhazer plugin 9276 x 7327 pixels

 

Friday (25-March-2011) — California

Gone to See California. Day 6: Death Valley Spring 2011 Photography Workshop with Michael Mariant.

We started the day before sunrise walking out to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Park. The objective for this location was to focus on lines, shapes, and textures as the sun rose and the shadows moved across the dunes. The first image is of morning shadows on the sand dunes. The next two are the same image of the dunes taken by Michael Mariant using my Leica X1 camera. The first is the “out of the camera” jpg, the 2nd the raw (dng) image processed with Capture One Pro attempting to minimize the amount of the upper right being blown out.

Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 50 mm f/1.4 G lens (ISO 100, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and converted for web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 50 mm f/1.4 G lens (ISO 100, f/8, 1/500 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and converted for web with Photoshop CS5.
Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken by Michael Mariant with my Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/10, 1/60 sec). Out of the Camera jpg. (David J Mathre)
Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken by Michael Mariant with my Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/10, 1/60 sec). Out of the Camera jpg.
Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken by Michael Mariant with my Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/10, 1/60 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and converted for web with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Sand Dune Morning Shadows, Death Valley NP. Image taken by Michael Mariant with my Leica X1 (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/10, 1/60 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro.