Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/03/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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 > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >