
Death Valley is a very large and diverse desert park in eastern California and one of my favorite locations in the park is the ever changing Mesquite Flat sand dunes. As beautiful as the dunes are they are also incredibly challenging to photograph; with high temperatures, wind blowing fine grain sand and an ever growing number of visitors.
On the morning I made this image the dunes were relatively clean of footprints and it was a race against the rising sun. Its only a little over a half mile walk from the parking area to this location but I had forgotten how slow it is to walk in sand and that I needed to be wary of my own footprints. I didn't want to ruin my own image by having them in the frame.
The beautiful flowing lines of the sand and the soft shadows of the pre-sunrise light create some of the most alluring options to work with, so much so that composing an image can be a real challenge. The shadows were changing so fast that I was afraid that from the first frame to the last that the shadows wouldn't line up. I feel fortunate they did and I'm very happy with the results.
Date & Time | April 14, 2021: 6:23am - 6:27am |
Location | Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California |
Coordinates | 36.615100, -117.131100 |
Focal Length | 135mm |
Aperture | f.11 |
Shutter Speed | 1/25 |
ISO | 125 |
Number of Exposures | 30 |
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Total Pixels | 460,428,918 |
Horizontal Pixels | 42,187 |
Vertical Pixels | 10,914 |
Aspect Ratio | 3.87 : 1 |
File Size | 2,631 MB |
Width @ 300ppi (perfect) | 11.72 feet |
Height @ 300ppi | 3.03 feet |
Width @ 150ppi (near-perfect) | 23.44 feet |
Height @ 150ppi | 6.06 feet |
Date & Time | April 14, 2021: 6:23am - 6:27am |
Location | Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California |
Coordinates | 36.615100, -117.131100 |
Focal Length | 135mm |
Aperture | f.11 |
Shutter Speed | 1/25 |
ISO | 125 |
Number of Exposures | 30 |
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