[Leica] Back from DVNP

Wed Mar 2 15:27:15 PST 2016

Richard,
Sounds like a great trip.  Can't wait to see the photos.

gene

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 5:05 PM, Richard Man <richard at richardmanphoto.com>
wrote:

> We drove down to Ridgecrest on Sat, then woke up at 3AM to drive through
> Trona - the BEST vacation spot in the West, then onto the Ageuerrepoint. We
> missed the blazing sunrise by two minutes as the last 6 miles are unpaved.
> The view though is still amazing. Then we explored the Eureka Mines and
> Mr.Ageuerre (probably mangling his name) house and car. We even met another
> 4x5 photographer there!
>
> Then we explored the Titus Canyon and were surprised that there is a ghost
> town in the middle of the canyon. WTF?!!! My daughter took out a number of
> books from the library so we learned all about the follies of man. We were
> driving our Toyota minivan and while the canyon is rated "high clearance
> vehicles" only - it's doable. There are some spots you want to drive REALLY
> slowly but it's OK. There was even a sedan driving behind us with very low
> clearance - he was driving REALLY slowly and he did make it out too.
>
> Then we raced to the Mesquites Dunes and learned the futility of running on
> sand with a 30lbs pack, and sand got onto and into everything. Ugh. We
> camped at the overflow campsite at Furnace Creek. Next morning, we got up
> god-awful-before-dawn to hit the Zabraski Point and wondered why everyone
> was facing away from the sunrise. I mean, in all the photos and blogs, no
> one says you actually are catching the predawn reflection of the Sun!
>
> Onto Dante's View, via way of the 20-mule canyon. It's really easy to see
> why so many people die at DV - all the canyon "paths" look the same, and if
> you think, "hey I have a 4WD and a GPS, I can go anyway!" - you would be
> right, but also that you may not be able to get out. One flat tire would
> ruin a lot of things.
>
> Dante's View is, of course, marvelous. Some skateboarding kid went down the
> road with his father videotaping. Not sure how far he went down as I was
> busying changing film holders and chatting a Canon 6D toting photog about
> the joy of LF. Then napped at the Gold Canyon area. It has cell phone AND
> data access! At least on my iPhone 6, but not on my daughter's iPhone 5s.
> Then we hiked in, because - well, why not. If you do the hike, take at
> least 1.5 liters of water and take the fork to the right at the end to go
> up to the "Cathedral" view (not the fork to the Zabraski, but the later
> fork). It's worth it.
>
> The idea was then to take photos at the Badwater, then wildflowers, then
> catch the Mesquite Dunes again. Well, the Badwater photo trek took it all
> out of me. It was 100 degrees. Just the effort to set up the 3 shots with
> low vantage point with the 4x5 on the salt flat exhausted me. I was
> definitely getting dehydrated (headache and all) even though I was guzzling
> water. So we knew we would skip the sand dunes. So we stopped off at one of
> the patches of "Fields of Yellow" and took some photos there. Most
> photographers were crouching down taking macro pics and THEY would make
> some good photos, but I was trying to get the whole field with the
> mountains vista. We will see how that turns out. (not that I have any macro
> equipment anyway).
>
> We ended with the sunset through the "Artist Drive", but after the Titus
> Canyon, the "Artist Palette" pales (ha ha) in comparison. We camped at the
> Emigrant's Camp that night. Got up early enough to race to the
> Ageuerrepoint again. This time we were ready and were greeted by the
> blazing sunrise. Did some Tai Chi at 6000 feet up. Life is good.
>
> Then we took the Panamints center route out. While taking more photos off
> road, I found a dead cellphone (we took it with us it can be properly be
> disposed of) on the road - some dumbass must have doing video or whatever
> while driving or something - as we have seen some guy hanging out of a car
> with a GoPro the previous day doing just that around Badwater. Marveled
> that the camp at Panamints have showers and tent cabins! What luxury. On
> the way out, we saw two fighter planes (probably from the China Lake Naval
> Base?). The first one I thought it was a drone, until it did a 90 degree
> turn and a fast drop. It was pretty neat. We saw another one when we were
> at the exit sign taking selfies. They were flying fairly close to the
> ground.
>
> Then down the 190-395. Did not realize we would see Owens Lake and the
> Sierra Nevada range - just like that - amazing view and quite a treat. Then
> onto Tehachapi pass and were greeted by the wind turbines. For a few years
> now, I have some ideas of doing long exposure with the turbines so I was
> glad to finally have a chance to see if it works. I am glad that I took the
> filters with me, knowing full well that I probably would not use them in
> the Death Valley per se. We will see how they come out.
>
> Then a long drive onto I-5. I was fighting a really bad allergy and a cold,
> and have to be careful that it doesn't turn into a full blown asthma attack
> and napped an hour while my daughter was driving. Boy, I needed that.
>
> Equipment wise, I used the Chamonix F1 4x5 with mainly the 110mm XL, and a
> few shots with the 150 and 210 Fujinons. I would have used the 75mmm Nikkor
> a few more times except that the recessed board is interfering with the
> shutter cable mechanism. I need to fix that.
>
> I used the 80/2.8 and 50/2.8 with the Hasselblad 203FE. It makes a great
> walk around / hiking companion. Most the time I just took one lens, but
> once or twice, I would put the other lens in the photog's vest. The 50/2.8
> is very large. The 50/4 would be much better in that regard, but it would
> be less convenient to use since it's not a FE lens.
>
> Great time. It's one of the few times I went out with a companion for
> solely photographic purpose. Can't wait to do it again.
>
> On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 10:23 PM, Richard Man <richard at richardmanphoto.com>
> wrote:
>
> > 1266 miles,9 rolls of medium format film, and 38 sheets of 4x5 film
> later,
> > we are back from the Death Valley National Park. The most amazing Hell on
> > Earth place. We did a lot of activities, but also know our limits. Now
> > catch up with some work before going *thud*
> >
> > --
> > // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
> > // On Facebook: http://facebook.com/richardmanphoto
> > // On Instagram: https://instagram.com/richardmanphoto
> >
>
>
>
> --
> // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
> // On Facebook: http://facebook.com/richardmanphoto
> // On Instagram: https://instagram.com/richardmanphoto
>
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