It’s called Death Valley in reference to how hot it gets, but #deathvalleynationalpark belies its reputation in January. It was below freezing on #badwaterflats, and I had been shooting the salt crust for a good hour or so waiting for dusk. The salt is fascinating here, because there are little pockets or crusted puddles everywhere. The texture is mesmerizing. I waited and waited through dusk, and captured this just before the sun set behind these clouds, which were rushing in. I was shooting RAW, high resolution (80mp) on my #Olympus EM1. I focus bracketed this image, to be sure I froze motion as much as possible (shooting at a wider aperture), but still had focus between a meter and infinity. The Oly 7-14 2.8 is a tricky lens. Like all ultra-wides, it picks up sun flare easily, but it surprised me that it picked up moon flare in this image. Unlike many wides, it doesn’t have a useful hood (it has a four-petal configuration making lens hoods pretty much impossible). Looking back, flare often shows up as a happy accident, adding character as well as depth to my images. On the tiny screen on my camera, I was pretty sure this was going to be a usable image. This was day 4 of a 6-day ‘winter sabbatical’ though, and I camped outside the park overnight, so it was several days before I saw it on a decent screen. I’m pleased with the outcome. Give me a like or a repost if you enjoy these longer “story behind the photos” posts!
In all of my #photography, I am captivated by texture, especially when is is juxtaposed against a lack of texture. That’s what drew me to the salt crust on Badwater Flats. See ALT text for the story! #deathvalley #nationalparks #astrophotography #landscapephotography #california #sunflare #moonflare
