My bud Carl and I did a photo tour of Death Valley and the Eastern Sierras outside of Bishop, CA.  Marc Adamus was our workshop leader, along with two other participants (Pierre from Calgary and Loscar from Pensacola).  Marc’s photo artistry of nature and our country’s landscape is phenomenal and inspirational, to say the least.  Be sure to check out his work (http://www.marcadamus.com/).

One of our destinations toward the end of this trip was south and west of the Stovepipe Wells area.  We drove what must’ve been 5-6 miles down a rough, dusty, non-descript road (Saline, as I recall).  I was amazed the entire trip at how anything could grow in the Death Valley desert conditions (and not much does!).  But, I was especially amazed at the thousands and thousands of Joshua trees we found at the end of this route.  They were everywhere … hearty, plentiful, and a very distinctive looking tree.  We visited this area for the express purpose of camping overnight and shooting the trees alongside the Milky Way.  The temperature dropped somewhere into the the mid-30’s overnight, with winds howling up to 50mph.  Carl and I were very grateful that Marc outfitted us with a tent that was virtually impervious to the wind.  As shooting time approached (3am), the winds started to die down significantly just in time.

Hope you enjoy my take on the scenery.  Even though this is not the optimal time of year for seeing a bright Milky Way, it was certainly prevalent and a spectacle.  The light on the horizon is light “pollution” from Las Vegas, some 200 miles away.

Joshua Trees Overlooking the Milky Way, Death Valley

5D MkII, 16-35L f/2.8 @ 16mm, 20 seconds @ f/2.8, ISO 6400

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