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I am looking for suggestions on guidebooks for Death Valley NP--There are several general guides listed on Amazon but I could not make up my mind. I did notice there was a photographer's guide due to be published in March of 2009.
Thanks for any info...
Rocky
Rocky, for DV, I found Tim Fitzharris National Park book to be sufficient for the main spots. How many days you going to be there?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocky Sharwell
I was there last January; amazing location.
I am not sure yet--I am sort of at the research stage right now--I have some use it or lose it vacation time and was trying to decide whether to combine the trip with my annual Thanksgiving Bosque trip--or do a whole separate trip.Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Pancier
I bought Steve Kossack's Death Valley Photography video and really want to go. How much time would you suggest for Death Valley?
DV is closer to Vegas so unless you're doing DV only, you may want to consider the Nevada desert like Valley of Fire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocky Sharwell
lighting is everything in DV and the park is huge; hundreds of miles. so you want to plan out your shooting locations for sunrise and sunset and take into consideration travel time. If the lighting is no good then you lost a shooting day for a particular location...
Zabrieski point is a sunrise shoot. You have to be set up way before sunrise. It's a fast drive from the furnace creek lodge (where I stayed)
Badwater is a sunrise shoot. The dunes (2 sets of them there) -- best light is late afternoon, but you get a lot of prints unless you hike far enough to get pristine sand dunes. the a.m. is good but not as dramatic since the best views esp. from the mesquite dunes is towards the east. Dante's view is a sunset shot; Aguerberry point is too scary to go there in the dark. It's 6K feet high through a dirt road and the last part of the drive is on a narrow dirt road on a cliff. you need to see where you're driving, but you can get some killer views there.
The crater is good at any time. the winds are horrible there. 50-60mph sometimes and the dirt will nail you in the eyes or your lenses. The racetrack is great but you need a high 4x4 truck with off road tires. the place is known for destroying tires. the typical rental with road tires may not survive.
there's some other areas out there that you can do at any hour. the road through the park provides great views; the devil's golf course and the artist's pallete is also an afternoon shoot.
Now please note, there is no cell coverage anywhere out there. There is some wifi in the lobby of the NPS office or the Furnace Creek Lodge. if you break down out there, you're SOL. Next time I'm thinking of renting a sat phone.
other than the lodges, and one gas station out there, there's no supplies so you need to pack everything with you out there.
Dunno how the March weather is, in January, it was freezing at the high altitudes. and in the 40's and 50's at sea level. by spring, it starts getting really hot out there. much better to go in the winter.
you do get those nasty California storms out there in winter, and areas could be flooded or snowed out so you have to keep alert about the weather. But let me tell you, the place is beautiful. One of the most amazing sites I've ever seen.
so to answer your question, you can see some sites in 3 days figure 6 hot spots and hope you get the right light. 5 days would be optimal.
also, make sure you have hh GPS. the dunes are misleading when you venture out there and you can get disoriented.
here's my flickr link to some of DV pics.
