The first time I went to Seattle it was sunny for a week, so it only figures that it would rain on me in Death Valley. Unfortunately I only had one day, so I absolutely must go back again.
(I wanted to post these here because of all the great advice I got searching this forum for Death Valley. One note that I didn't see mentioned: I ended up at the Mesquite Dunes because the entrance to the Panamint Dunes is not marked from the road. If you are driving in before sunrise, you have to look VERY carefully for the dirt road to get to the Panamint Dunes.)
Were you hand-holding? I noticed you used f/4, 400-800 iso and fast ss for these.
I like the layered look, great sky and wonderful light on the bg mtns in the 1st. I wouldn't mind the darker fg ridges opened up a touch.
Looks like a gozillion footprints on the dunes.
Really, really like the narrow dof in the 3rd. The f/4 worked beautifully there. Striking image.
Yes they were all hand-held. And there were indeed a gazillion footprints, which is why I had wanted to go to the Panamint Dunes rather than Mesquite. They were beautiful and fascinating anyway, and we were able to walk farther out than most people to get to some dunes without any footprints (perhaps because we weren't lugging tripods?)
You sure are getting or bringing some strange weather patterns with you!
I don't really care for #2 with all the footprints in it. I do like the way #3 looks with that really shallow DOF. I wouldn't want to see every shot looking that way, but in this case it does give a really cool effect. So good work with your creativity on that one.
