Death Valley
The Death Valley is one of the most geologically exciting as well as one of the hottest areas on earth. Therefore, the best time to travel is winter. Then it has mostly pleasant, almost summer temperatures (well, in the nights it can be ’slightly‘ frosty) and unique light moods, hashtag pornclouds.
My personal highlight of the tour was the sandstorm in the Mesquite Dunes. We were completely knocked over once by wind speeds of over 100 kmh, and taking pictures under these conditions was extremely exhausting. But never before have I been able to take more extraterrestrial pictures on our planet than there. More Mission to Mars is probably not possible.
Further highlights were the so-called Racetrack with the wandering stones, the fantastic rock formations of the Alabama Hills, the dreamlike light atmosphere on the Panamint Playa as well as the starry sky photography in the Valley Of Fire.
But now I don’t want to keep you in suspense, but let you enjoy my personal favorite pictures incl. some behind the scenes pictures 😉
Mesquite Dunes
Sandstorm in the Mesquite Dunes. Sandy, windy, fierce – but extraterrestrially awesome!
Racetrack
Only a few years ago, the secret about the wandering stones was revealed: on a playa (rarely) filled with water, drift ice can form during cold winter nights. On sunny days, the ice begins to melt and breaks up into large floating slabs. Even with a light wind, these slabs then push the rocks in front of them, leaving the familiar marks in the soft mud bed.
Alabama Hills
Fantastic rock formations in the Alabama Hills, which are part of the Sierra Nevada, with even more fantastic lighting.
Panamint Playa
The Panamint Playa is the bottom of a former lake, which was located in the Pleistocene in the Panamint Valley in California. It was about 97 kilometers long, but not 10 kilometers wide. Here we were also spoiled by a very special light atmosphere.
Valley of Fire
The Valley of Fire east of Las Vegas is unfortunately no longer an option photographically. The park is only open between sunrise and sunset (with immediate threat of heavy fines), so outside the best photo light. Only the Milky Way over our camp has reconciled us a little with it.
