The weather on our trip to Death Valley was WINDY, blowing sand and dust into the air and largely obscuring the distant mountains to the point that photographing them was often pointless. Mother Nature certainly has to be in the mood to help if you’re going to get a nice landscape. The day before we left, she was. My cousin Russ accompanied me early in the morning to Zabriskie Point, one of the most photographed areas in Death Valley. We were the first in the parking lot, but not long after we arrived, as I was trying to get some night shots of the rising moon, other cars pulled up, casting their headlights into my exposures. I took this as fairly typical of the average tourist who didn’t realize the guy with the tripod in their headlights might have his shot ruined, but considering that almost everyone who was joining us was a photographer of some sort, it later bugged me quite a bit. Oh well.
As the black sky behind us lightened into blue, we walked up a short climb to the observation area. This being our first time to Zabriskie Point, we had little idea where we were going, so the other folks did come in handy there. We followed the first few to a small mesa surrounded by a low rock wall, and something like the scene above emerged gradually as the light grew. The perspective seemed much nicer from below the official area, however, so I climbed over the little wall and took my chances on the ‘trail’ that led down to a second plateau from where I make the above image. Russ followed some distance behind and smiled moments later as he reported the whispers from the others as they watched me: “Can he go down there? Are we supposed to stay up here? Think we’d get in trouble if we followed him?” I wasn’t too worried, as I could see even in the dim light the other trails ahead. Plus, in photography the general rule is that it’s better to ask forgiveness (photo in hand) than permission and be told you can’t take the photograph you want.
As the light continued to grow, I was pleased to see that for once the sky was clear. Some wispy clouds appeared, including a strange one that looks almost like ripples on water. The contrast between the amazing variety of warm browns in the foreground formations and the cool sky was beautiful as the sun gently lit the scene with it first rays to peek over the mountains behind us.
When we returned to our lodgings that morning, I noticed behind the check in counter a large print of Zabriskie Point being photographed by a line of 20 or 30 photographers, all bent over their tripods and standing just where I had ventured. By the time the light was good, I’d been joined by almost as many in the same spot shown in the office photograph. I also learned that Zabriskie Point is a movie by Michelangelo Antonioni, that stars… no one, and seems to be a love it or hate it film.
Looking at this image now, 700 pixels wide, reminds me of how inadequate it is to view images like this at such a small size compared to seeing a proper print of 20×30 inches. It’s kind of like the difference between watching baseball on a 13: TV and being at the ballpark. Actually, I supposed being at Zabriskie Point is more like being at the ballpark, but if you can’t make the drive and hang out until the sky is clear and the weather just right, a large print is a pretty nice compromise.
