Death Valley – Brief Visit and iPhone Photos

My son and I made a trip into Death Valley from Lone Pine, thinking we might return for more serious photography, but the distance and the timing difficulty steered us away from that idea.

Yet it was good to see Badwater Basin with the shallow lake created by the recent heavy rains.  It appears that this unusual event attracted others, too.  there were lots of people, more than I had seen there in previous visits, in the park.

Badwater Basin
Long Walk

The road to Devil’s Golf Course was closed, requiring a long walk to see that feature.

Death Valley Salt
Death Valley Salt 2
Brown and White

Shallow water covers the salt that appears brown and the salt protruding above the water is white.

Death Valley Salt 3

The salt is showing indications of forming geometrical patterns typical of this salt as it dries.  The heavy rains have destroyed or muted such patterns.

Salt Walker
Rugged Salt

We stopped a little short of the turn in the road, which goes by the traditional Devil’s Golf Course, but this rugged salt is what we would expect to see there.  The rains have muted some of the sharp features that I recall from previous visits.

The Long Walk Back
Beer and Pizza Time

Back in Lone Pine, we had Pizza and Beer for dinner.  This IPA seemed a fitting choice after our time in Death Valley.

Until next time,

Ken

 

March 2024 iPhone Photos – Part 6

More scouting photos in Alabama Hills, California, March 2024.

The Eye and the Cloud
Clear Eyed
The Eye’s View
The View at the Eye
Layers
Shark Fin Arch
Arch View
Pillsbury Doughboy

Ok, this vandalized arch is called “Surprise Arch” (I think), but it looks more like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

I’ll have more iPhone images in the next post, but from an area well outside of Alabama Hills, so stay tuned,

Ken

 

March 2024 iPhone Photos – Part 5

And even more iPhone scouting photos in Alabama Hills, California.

Basic Earth 4
Life Cycles 2
Grassy Gap 2
Cyclops Arch, Alabama Hills, California
Cyclops Arch, Alabama Hills, California
Boot Arch, Alabama Hills, California

This monochrome version of an iPhone photo was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page July 25, 2024.  The bright white clouds behind the arch draws the eye to the arch.  Against a clear, bland sky, a photo of this arch would be much less interesting, maybe even boring.

Boot Arch and Sierra Nevada
The Head

I called this natural rock feature “The Head”, because it looks like a head on a neck looking across the broad valley into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, maybe thinking it would be cooler to be in those mountains, under a blanket of snow, rather than stuck down here forever.

The Eye

The arch on top of the weathered, massive rock outcrop is called The Eye of Alabama Hills.

The Eye of Alabama Hills, California

From this view point, The Eye feature reminds me of a big eyed puppy draped over its owner’s body, peering into its master’s eyes.

Thanks for following my posts,

Ken

March 2024 iPhone Photos – Part 4

More iPhone scouting photos of Alabama Hills, California.

Cloudy Day in Alabama Hills
Basic Earth
Aperture
Frayed and Bent
Cloud Reverence 5
Grassy Gap
Basic Earth 2
Life Cycles
Basic Earth 3
Evolving Earth

Until next time,

Ken

March 2024 iPhone Photos – Part 3

This is a continuation of iPhone photos shot in and around Alabama Hills, California in March 2024.

Rocky Underpass
Sign of the Times?
Did Someone Drop a Marble?
Astragalus Coccineus
Underpass
Alabama Hills Rocks and Sierra Nevada
Alabama Hills and Sierra Nevada
Grassy Path to the Sky
Alabama Hills and Sierra Nevada
Astragalus Coccineus 2

More later,

Ken

March 2024 iPhone Photos – Part 2

More iPhone and scouting photos from my March 2024 travels.

Alabama Hills and Sierra Nevada Under a Cloudy Sky
Walking in Alabama Hills
Narrow Passage
Cloud Reverence
Cloud Reverence 2
Cloud Reverence 3
Cloud Reverence 4
The Way Through

To be continued,

Ken

Mono Lake, California – Part 2 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

Even though the afternoon light was not the most flattering for outdoor photography, it was unlikely that I would pass this way again in the foreseeable future, so I photographed the scenery while I could.

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Ghostly

Some of the vegetation around Mono Lake gets coated with the chemicals dissolved in the water of Mono Lake.  I assume this happens as winds across the lake spray water onto the vegetation or by some similar method.

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Slender Tufa
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Symphonic

There are similarities in the various components in this image, which are subtle, but the more I looked at this scene, I noted the ripples in the water, the varying heights of the tufa and the undulation in the mountains in the background.  These features reminded me of vibrational waves , like those in music, hence the title “Symphonic”.

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Broken Reflection
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Foam Line

The chemicals in Mono Lake are surfactants that weaken the surface tension in the water, allowing bubbles to hang around for a long time, rather than disappearing quickly, which normally happens, when surfactants are not present in the water.

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Stranded
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Symphonic 2

Maybe the little tufa in the foreground is the maestro behind this orchestral scene.

Until next time,

Ken

Mono Lake, California – Part 1 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

My son and I ventured back north of Lone Pine, California to explore more natural sites along US Highway 395.  Our first stop was Mono Lake.

I have seen photographs of the tufa in Mono Lake and looked forward to seeing these.  While the history of this lake and the science behind the natural creation of the tufa deposits are interesting, we were a bit disappointed in the photogenic appeal of the area; but we were not there at the best time for photography, which might have been the primary reason for our disappointment.

We hiked the loop from the parking lot to the lake twice.  I used my 24-70mm lens during the first round, then switched to my 80-400mm with a 1.4 extension for the second round.  The photos included in my posts are a mix of images made with those two lenses.

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2 x Tufa
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Mono Lake, California
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Mono Lake Tufa
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Mineral Coated
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Mono Lake, Tufa and Mountains
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Mono Lake, Tufa and Mountains 2

More Mono Lake next time,

Ken

 

Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – More Wandering

After our early morning sunrise shoot, my son and I went on another short scouting expedition.

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Shark Fin Arch, Monochrome
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Just Another Landscape Photo

Of course, I made a few shots during our little hike, scouting the area for possible sunrise or sunset shoots, but the two in this post are the only ones that I deemed presentable.

Until next time,

Ken

Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – Early Morning Photography – Part 2

After shooting at my preferred location this morning, I wandered around the area looking for other scenes to shoot.

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Serenity Road

I don’t think the many dirt, back roads here have names, but the early morning quiet led me to call this one Serenity Road.

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T in the Road

Shooting from another point of view, I thought it would make no difference which way one turned at the T, as either way would let one see more of the awesome geology of this area.

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Sierra Morning
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Sierra Morning 2
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Sierra Morning 3
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Top Light

Standing in the shadow of the massive rocks behind me, I watched as the early morning sun began to highlight the top of the rock features in front of me.

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End Light
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Boulder Mountain Morning 3

I wandered back through and over rocks and boulders to the place of my initial shots this morning.  I climbed onto a massive rock and made one last image, wrapping up this sunrise shoot.

Until next time,

Ken