November 21, 2012

Death Valley Star Trails

My annual return trips from Zion are usually a boring 10 hour drive through Las Vegas, Barstow, Bakersfield, and the San Joaquin Valley. But this year, I decided to mix it up with a nighttime romp through Death Valley and the opportunity to make a Star Trail photograph.

Standing below sea level at 3 am in windless silence, I could hear (or feel) my highly caffeinated blood coursing through my body — definitely a bigger-than-thou experience.

I was hoping to make a Star Trail image around the Stovepipe Wells sand dunes but memory had tricked me into thinking they were closer to the road than I'd remembered. So I drove past Stovepipe and up the western incline getting a valley vantage point that formed a nice anchoring cradle to the circular trails I desired.

I added this photo and a couple others to spice up the Star Trail tutorial.