Congratulations to Fred Miranda for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 7 votes - View Previous Winners
In total silence, the sweltering Death Valley heat creeps over a hundred degrees. Even signals of an approaching dusk are powerless against these temperatures. As my footsteps crunch along the salt flats, I stumble across this unusual landscape. Time to set up the tripod and sneak in a much needed water break.
After fiddling around with several different focal lengths, I finally settled on 17mm.
Taken with A7R + Canon 17mm f/4L. Very small tilt with the lens shifted down about 6mm.
Comments appreciated,
Fred
Beautiful image, Fred. A real different floor from the usual salt polygons. Was it that hot as evening approached? I remember it being over 100 degrees at 8 AM once.
Very cool shot Fred! I like how you found a distinctive clump of salt pools in the foreground, and the light in the background is great! I've been skunked quite a few times in DV when the clouds will either build in and fill the sky, or completely disappear when the light is getting good.
I can't imagine trying to shoot in those conditions. It can be quite uncomfortable even when it's int he 70's or 80's on the salt flats because of all the reflected light.
philtax wrote:
Great drama in the sky Fred. If anything I would like it to be perhaps more prominent.
Phil
Thanks Phil,
The sky was bald during pretty much the entire day but luckily clouds build up quite nicely at around 7:00pm. It was incredible being there and watch the fire show.
I have some other images with more sky and will post them later.
Best,
Fred
kellyakinsart wrote:
Beautiful shot Fred. Great job of arranging the circles in the foreground.
Kelly
Thanks Kelly. From the angle, it looks like the circular shapes stretch a long way but in fact they were located in a very small section of the floor.
Take care,
Fred
A nice one indeed, I like the look of these polygons. They almost seem to be reflecting the color of the sunset in them.
And yeah, it's a very strange type of heat that can follow you in in DV, almost stifling in it's effects.
Jim
Thanks Jim. I was aiming for a slight different foreground look. I'm planning on going back in the summer for night shots and will be bringing my Astrotrac with me. I will be more prepared for the heat.
I just got back from my 2-day trip there and during one sunset shooting, the temperature was approaching 110 degrees at the Artist Palette drive.
Fred
First reactions before reading the comments of others:
OMGoodness- so much better than the dozens of images I've taken of those geometric shapes that I am humbled by it.
Tough to choose between a magnificent sky and a magnificent foreground- so I assume you also took a variety of shots varying the emphasis.
I bet they also work exceptionally well.
This one sure does .
Charlie
