[Leica] Back from DVNP

Wed Mar 2 22:38:43 PST 2016

I have one thing to say - “WOW!”. I still have not worked out what DVNP is but I guess the first part is Death Valley.

Gerry

> On 2 Mar 2016, at 23:27, Gene Duprey <geneduprey2015 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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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