Badwater Sunset, Death Valley National Park

It’s good to be back from Death Valley National Park. I was fortunate on many fronts while in Death Valley National Park. The members of my Racetrack photo tour were great, we had unbelievable light and incredibly clear skies to enjoy every star in the sky! Weather conditions were unseasonably cold with temperatures dipping down below 26F, but that didn’t slow us down.

Conditions at Badwater this trip were particularly nice with the salt flats recovering to their former glory. The hexagonal shapes of the salt were clearly seen and quite white. A nice change from my previous visit with very flat muddy grey salt formations.

I have many photos from this trip that I’m eager to share including some amazing night sky and star trail photos. Stay tuned for those! In the meantime here’s a sample of what we experienced on this trip. If you’re interested in joining me in February I’ll be repeating this trip to Death Valley to make the most of the new moon, so as to see every star in the sky – 2012 Death Valley Photo Tour Info.

Photo Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift (courtesy of Borrowlenses.com)
3-Image Panoramic, with two sequences blended as the front element of this lens does not allow for use of filters.
Sky: ISO 640, f/10 at 1/5 second (-1 1/3 EV)
Salt Flat: ISO 640, f/10 at 0.8 second (2/3 EV)

[tags]Death Valley National Park, California, national park, Death Valley, fine art, stock picture[/tags]