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Archive 2015 · 2005 Death Valley 100 Year Bloom, Revisited

  
 
matthewsaville
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 2005 Death Valley 100 Year Bloom, Revisited


In light of the potential 2015/2016 El Nino event, I got curious and revisited my April 2005 visit to Death Valley National Park. In 2005, the hot Nikon DSLRs were the D1X and the D70. I had both in tow, but the D1X was borrowed and its battery lasted all of 30 minutes on the first day. The D70, at 6 megapixels, was a champ. I originally processed these images in whatever version of Adobe Bridge was current back then, maybe the first edition of CS, or the version prior. The panoramas took hours and hours to stitch together manually, and for some images I was re-processing two or three different layers.

Re-processing the images in Lightroom CC was an absolute delight, especially with the built-in panoramic DNG function and the incredible advances made in shadow / highlight management. The newest tool, Dehaze, is also pretty impressive and it's actually quite easy to overdo it!

I'm very eagerly awaiting the spring of 2016; only time will tell if we have another average or drought-stricken year, ...or another 100 year bloom.

Comments and feedback are appreciated!



























Jul 24, 2015 at 08:12 PM
Travis Rhoads
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 2005 Death Valley 100 Year Bloom, Revisited


I live under a rock...called a 4 year old... What is the 2015-2016 El Nino event, and what effects does it have on DV.

I like #3 the most, partial to B&W, but the rough mountains behind the softer flowing dunes just works for me.



Jul 24, 2015 at 08:22 PM
matthewsaville
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 2005 Death Valley 100 Year Bloom, Revisited


Travis Rhoads wrote:
I live under a rock...called a 4 year old... What is the 2015-2016 El Nino event, and what effects does it have on DV.

I like #3 the most, partial to B&W, but the rough mountains behind the softer flowing dunes just works for me.


Travis, it could all be wishful thinking from the drought-stricken residents of CA, or it could be the biggest El Nino event on record. If you don't live in the CA area, El Nino is a Pacific ocean weather phenomenon that actually takes place down at the equator, but often affects weather patterns in the American West in a very significant (wet) way.

In the spring of 2005, after innumerable heavy rain storms in the previous summer, fall and winter, the DV area erupted in one of the most epic displays of wildflowers ever. It is known as the 100 year bloom, although it definitely (okay, allegedly) happens far more frequently than every 10 decades, lol.)

Also, Badwater flooded, (far more than usual) and it was rumored that people were even kayaking across it. If you google "Death Valley 100 year bloom" you can find all kinds of crazy stories and beautiful imagery. My visit in early April 2005 was actually a bit later than the peak of flower blooming, if I recall.

If you love the American West then it is an event not to be missed, that is for sure! But like I said, it could all peter out in the next few months and we could be back to "normal" drought conditions. We won't know until it happens.

Thanks for viewing!

=Matt=



Jul 24, 2015 at 08:28 PM





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