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Series Three
This series of photos was shot mainly in Death Valley, California. I started out very early in the morning and shot till about 3 pm, putting about 300 miles on the car in doing so. Like a lot of my pictures, these also feature a very stark light and hopefully a graphic element. In the last picture I have done a little work following in a favored photographers footsteps. So, here it is, Series Three - Death Valley.
The Guard Shack - There is this outcropping between
Parhump and Ashford Mine in Death valley. It looked
interesting in the low light, so thought I would take a
few shots. I liked this one, no real reason other than
it may work with other shots in the future.
Riddle me this Batman… If Osama bin Laden were
hiding in one of these, you think they could find him?
Sometimes things grow in the strangest places. The
green against the red rock was an immediate eye
opener, and with the framing it is even more dramatic.
For me the texture is everything. I love the feel of
the old rust on the bolt. The faded wood helps the
whole thing as well making a simple composition pop.
Does this remind you of a comic book rendition of
a bolt driven into concrete? Does to me.
Old structures and isolation draw me in. This door
is a door to nowhere and just about as isolated as it
can get. I wonder what happened here a hundred
years ago. Could people have thought Ashford Mine
was the next mother-lode? Did they expect to survive
long? Guess not, no one is there now.
The lowest point in the USA is Bad Water Basin in
Death Valley. This shot was taken about 6 inches
above the lowest point. I love th colors and reflections
and the salt crystals.
If you were in hell and had to play Satan a round of
Links, he would treat you the round on the
Devils Golf Course in Death Valley. I think
I found the last green.
The salt at the Devils Golf Course forms into
lumpy masses and as the water (yeah, it does
rain there) runs over it, it makes cuts into the
masses like the landscape all around. Odd to
see a mini hillside you can step on.
There is a one-way drive just off the main road
through Death Valley called the “The Artists Drive”.
If you get a chance to do the run, I highly suggest
it. Even though I am a descent photographer,
there is no way to describe the grandeur. You
drive though the canyon and every few hundred
yards is a whole new natural wonder.
OK, I have a 17mm wide angle lens for my rig,
and even with the DSLR lens factor it still means
that the lens is 24mm wide and still it cannot
capture it all. So, I took several shots in series
and stitched two together to get this shot. I did a
little work on the sky, but mostly it is unretouched.
Gotta love the colors.
This is the last of the shots for this series. When we were at Devils Golf Course I saw this rock peeking out of the salt and thought to myself that a face should be there. I shot the rock and when I got it into Photo Paint I superimposed a face on it from my vast library of beauties. In the style of Jerry Uelsmann I put the two together and creep out city followed. I like this photograph and plan to print it when I get the chance.
Technical Note: I have reduced the compression level on these photo so as to get better color and detail. I am still not happy with some of the results and will from this point forward use the RAW format for captures. Hopefully this will give me even better and cleaner results.
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