Getting to the incredible Eureka Dunes, deep in the backcountry in Death Valley National Park, requires a high-clearance all-wheel drive and time, but it is a beautiful drive the entire way. Once I arrived at the backcountry camp and had Gracie, my adventure van, set up for the night, I packed up the backpack and headed out towards the dunes.
I had many choices. I could climb the 780 feet to the summit of the dunes, or pick a spot partway up, or head off onto the desert playa. I have done all three in the past, but on this fine afternoon, I could not make up my mind. I just kept hiking.
As I approached the base of the enormous dunes, I took a moment to do a 360 visual to check the cloud formations, trying to decide which choice would give me the best chance of great light, as thunderheads were building in. I decided I wanted to capture an image of the dunes, not from the dunes. So, I veered off and hiked out onto the desert playa. I found amazing mud tile cracks and worked up a number of compositions with them. But I still wasn’t satisfied with that as my foreground. I scouted on. I found myself drawn back toward the dunes again.
Just as I was leaving the playa and heading back into the sage, I stopped. A bunch of tumbleweed had blown into a row at the edge of the playa. This was very interesting. I got the camera on the tripod and went to work on compositions again. Found it! A mix of colors in the sage with the tumbleweed created a very nice foreground line indeed. I locked in the composition to wait. This would be my spot.
But the clouds had knocked out the sun. This composition would require light. I looked back toward where the sun was going down. There was a crack between the clouds and the mountains. Would it be enough for the sun to sneak through? Nothing to do but wait.
The sun got lower. Oh no, the space got smaller. The sun got lower. I kept taking practice shots. In aperture priority, I set the aperture to f/20. Took a shot to check focus front to back. Perfect. I set the white balance to 6400K and dropped in a 3-stop graduated split neutral density filter. Another practice shot. Excellent. I waited. I looked back. Almost time.
Suddenly, the sun was sneaking through. Pow, there it was! Yes! It lit the dunes! I took my first shot. Pow! Nailed that! Put that in the bank! I got off four shots, then the sun dropped below the mountains. Yes!!! I was jumping around. I was so excited—it had happened! All the planning, driving, hiking, and scouting paid off! I had nailed my gallery shot of the Eureka Dunes, and now it hangs in both of my galleries.
I went on to night hike the desert playa, taking in the night scenes and thinking about the shot I had captured. What a way to finish off a two-week adventure in Death Valley National Park.
