Picture of the week

Dune sunset

The Eureka Dunes at sunset. These particular sand dunes are the largest in the western US, towering at 650 feet.

I climbed up these dunes on a trip with my BMW F800GS adventure motorcycle last week, camping overnight at their base, and being the only  one there.  The last 20 miles of this road from the Owens Valley direction are dirt with a fair amount of washboard.  I arrived at about 4:30 pm, with temperatures being only a mild 98 deg F, just in time for sunset photography. After struggling to get my tent up in the 20-25mph winds, grabbing my hat and some water, I headed out toward the tallest dunes with my camera and tripod.  On this occasion I utilized my Canon EOS 5D mark III with the EF 24-105mm L f/4 lens, along with a B&W circular polarizer for some shots.

Due to the winds I kept my camera in a plastic bag, and also in my camera bag when not in use.  For these particular hikes I use a smaller sling style camera bag that does not require me to remove it from my body to get at the equipment.  This is important to help keep the sand out of the delicate gear.  Even then it was difficult keeping the camera out of harms way when trying to crest some of the steeper dune slopes, as the wind would blow the sand higher into your face in these situations.  In some places it was necessary to crawl on all fours in order to get up some of the steeper slopes, and thus important to keep your camera stowed.  I have visited these in the past on multiple occasions, but due to their vast size, each visit yields new photographic possibilities (see my image gallery on Death Valley here).  By the time I got back to camp after sunset, fortunately the winds had subsided, enabling for a more relaxing evening to make dinner and read by headlamp for a bit before hitting the sack.

These dunes and other unique locations of Death Valley for quality photography are also covered in detail in my latest photography oriented travel guide on California, as available on Amazon here.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2010-2016.  Last updated: 9/19/2016   ()