Joe Vargas Photography

Discovering and capturing the beauty around us...

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Archive
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for Blog

Death Valley Photo Workshop

By Joe Vargas

Death Valley 

3/26-3/29/15

There’s something special about the desert, especially that magical time around sunset and dusk, the smell, the dryness of the air, the color of the light.   From childhood the concept of the desert has always held a certain allure for me. 

Photographing in Death Valley has always been a dream of a lifetime and apparently it was meant to be.  As mentioned in my last post, I was very fortunate to have won a free registration for a Death Valley workshop with Mike Mariant and High Sierra Workshops.  I still look back and it feels like a dream, traveling through what really turned out to be just a small portion of Death Valley National Park but experiencing so much variety in environments, vegetation, topography, climates and history. 

Death Valley spans an altitude differential of 11,330 feet (3,462 meters) with the high point being Telescope Peak at 11,043 feet (3,366 meters).  The lowest point in the park, and also the lowest and hottest point in North America is Badwater Basin at 287 ft (96 m) below sea level.

The view from our first stop, Dante’s View, is pretty spectacular, looking down into the Badwater Basin and surrounded by the Amargosa Range on the east, the Panamint Range on the west, on the nothern border are the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains to the south.

 

Dante's View
Dante’s View

 

Photography is a bit of a challenge here because the first thought is to use a wide angle lens to capture the expansive scene but everything is so far away any detail gets lost in the image.  Add to that a blue cloudless sky and you have a lot of nothing in the frame.  The key in this situation is to put the capabilities of that wide angle lens to good us by finding something interesting to place in the foreground and get close enough to that something to have it fill at least 15-20% of the frame.

Another interesting feature of the park that makes for an easy hike is Golden Canyon.  Canyon situations always make for interesting composition challenges and opportunities.  It may take a while for you to wrap your head around the image opportunities, but once you free your mind you can start to see shapes and features in the shadows and outlines of the rock formations.

 

Golden Canyon
Golden Canyon

 

Of course the ideal time to shoot in almost any landscape situation is around “golden hour”, that 60 minute period around sunrise and sunset.  On this day we decided to experience the golden light of sunset at the Devil’s Golf Course.  I love the names given to many of the locations and features in Death Valley, each with it’s own visual imagery before you have ever even seen the location.

 

Devil's Golf Course
Devil’s Golf Course

 

There are so many “favorite” locations I found in Death Valley that it’s hard to prioritize them but one of the top spots was the sand dunes, and there is no better time to shoot sand dunes than sunrise or sunset.   The beautiful stark definition of light and shadow coupled with the beautiful natural undulating patterns of the wind-blown sand make for natures own masterpieces, ever changing and always mesmerizing.

Shooting the sand dunes this particular morning presented a few challenges, fortunately none of them insurmountable.  First off, in the desert it’s hard to tell distance because there isn’t much to use for visual and depth reference.  The dunes we were going to be shooting looked relatively close but ended up being a good 20 minute hike to get to.  Now granted that doesn’t sound like much but walking through soft sand carrying 20+ pounds of photo gear in the dry desert air and I think everyone was very happy to finally make it to the shoot location.  The second challenge is that not everyone visiting the dunes was interested in photographing them, in fact many people that show up at sunrise at the dunes are there apparently to walk across the pristine sharp defining edge of the dune thus destroying its primary photographic appeal.  I am still not sure why they had to be there at sunrise for their experience but, oh well.  It certainly added to the challenge but everyone still managed to get some really great images of this iconic feature of the park.

 

Sand Dunes at Sunrise
Sand Dunes at Sunrise

 

Sand Dunes
Sand Dunes

 

I love ghost towns.  Not that I had ever actually been to a ghost town, that is until visiting Rhyolite. 

 

Death_Valley-2015_03_27-902L
Rhyolite (Esmeralda County)

 

Rhyolite is an long abandoned town at the eastern edge of Death Valley. In its heyday Rhyolite was a booming mining town with three railroad lines for taking the gold and other ores out of the middle of Death Valley.  It’s a town with lots of history and interesting stories…  

Along the road from the railroad station to the jail is a single gravesite surrounded by a wire fence.  On the fence and inside the fenced area are many artifacts left in commemoration of Mona Belle who met her end at the age of 21.  As the story goes, Isabella Haskins (aka Mona Belle) needed money to get her “crazy” boyfriend out of jail.  To do this she turned to prostitution.  Once she had saved enough money to bail him out he was released.  Shortly after that he shot poor Mona, in the back, four times because apparently he WAS crazy.  Every year on the anniversary of her death a mysterious group of women come dressed in period clothing, drink whisky and celebrate her life.  This is evidenced by the many empty whiskey bottles in the fenced area.  There are many other versions of how Mona met her untimely end but this one is the most interesting one I heard.

 

Mona's Memorial
Mona’s Memorial

 

Also included in the outskirts of town is a “Bottle House”.  Tom Kelly built this Bottle House around 1905, around the height of the gold rush in Rhyolite because there is not much wood in the desert and reportedly in Tom’s words “it’s difficult to build a house out of Joshua’s trees”.  Built from 51,000 beer bottles and adobe mud over one an a half years.  The beer bottles were donated from the 50 bars in town at the time.

 

Bottle House, Rhyolite
Bottle House, Rhyolite

 

Outside of town are a couple more interesting sites.  There is a museum with period artifacts from Rhyolite’s busier days.  Outside of the museum is what can only be described as an eerie collection of sculptures depicting the Last Supper.  I guess the reason they seem a little creepy is that they are all white and look like people draped in sheets, looking like ghosts.  Very different…

 

Last Supper Sculpture
Last Supper Sculpture

 

Also outside of Rhyolite is the Bullfrog Cemetery.  Sadly it has not been maintained or protected.  As a result many of the wooden grave markers have been taken.  According to our guide there are even fewer now than there were just a year ago.

 

Death_Valley-2015_03_27-1026L

 

We had to skip sunset at Badwater this day due to the unseasonably warm weather conditions for the time of year (March).  Temperatures were expected to be about 105 degrees.  With hiking required everyone reluctantly agreed to pass on this site.

One of the most popular sites to photograph in Death Valley is Sunrise at Zabriski Point.  True to form this area was overrun with photographers jockeying for position to get their images of sunrise as the warm morning light painted the peaks of Tucki Mountain in the distance, and eventually Manly Beacon and the landscape of Zabriski Point.

 

Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point

 

 

Manly Beacon
Manly Beacon

 

The following day would be the longest, most exciting and most anticipated.  This is the day we would be traveling to the area known as the Racetrack playa.  A playa is a dried lakebed.  This is the location of what used to be known as the Mysterious Sliding Rocks of Death Valley.  That is until 2013 when the mystery was finally solved.  Now they are just referred to as the Sliding Rocks.  However, we would schedule our day to arrive at the Racetrack playa shortly before sunset for the best light to capture the amazing texture of the dry lakebed and of course, the sliding rocks.  Before getting there we would hit several noteworthy locations.

 Due to the treacherous driving conditions we would be encountering this day we rented rugged jeeps with reinforced tires.  The reason for the special vehicles is that the road in the area where we would be traveling is made up of very jagged and sharp rocks.  People routinely try to drive their personal vehicles along these roads and get flat tires, sometimes multiple flat tires.  It can take many hours to get your car rescued in these remote locations and if the breakdown occurs late in the day you may be spending the night in your car.  That’s also the reason the park strongly recommends several gallons of water per person per day and blankets for that unexpected overnight stay when temperatures can plunge.

This day we start our day driving through Titus Canyon.  A 24 mile long canyon that changes elevation several times throughout the trip, and narrows down as you traverse the canyon until you finally get spit out at the other end.  The canyon is full of interesting sites including natural marking on the large stone faces that resemble imaginary animals like dragons and crazy plastic aliens…okay, maybe I was a little dehydrated.

 

Titus Canyon
Titus Canyon

 

From Titus Canyon we headed toward Ubehebe Crater, and from there, to the Racetrack!

 

On the road to the Racetrack...
On the road to the Racetrack…

 

On the way to the Racetrack we passed the Joshua Tree Forest and Teakettle Junction.  There is something about Joshua Trees that just make them look cool.  Maybe it’s because they look so different from any other kind of tree.  Maybe it’s because they come in different sizes and configurations.  Maybe it’s because while you’re admiring these trees you need to be careful where you’re walking lest you have an unpleasant encounter with a scorpion or a rattlesnake.  I’m not sure, but I just think they’re cool looking.

 

Joshua Trees
Joshua Trees

 

Teakettle Junction sits at the crossroads where the road from Ubehebe Crater meets the road to the Racetrack playa.  Sadly the story of it’s name is lost to history but it is adorned with an assortment of tea kettles, many with messages on them, left by previous visitors.

 

Teakettle Junction
Teakettle Junction

 

And finally after a very long day and a seemingly endless drive we arrive at the Playa Racetrack.  The road from Ubehebe Crater to the Racetrack is about 27 miles long, only wide enough for one vehicle even though it is a two way road, and full of twists and turns.  And as I mentioned earlier, covered with hard, sharp tire piercing rocks. 

I was happy that (1) I was not driving, (2) I was traveling with a team who had made this trip many times and (3) our vehicles were equipped for the road conditions.   We were also lucky it had not rained or had any snow runoff into the lakebed.  When this happens you can’t (or should not) walk on the wet areas because your footprints will cause a permanent mark in the mud which can last for decades.

This was the pinnacle of the trip for me, the place I had dreamt of visiting, the place I would have wanted to stay for days.  I had no idea how difficult it was to get to this location.  Unfortunately we only had about 60-70 minutes to shoot.  The closest area where there is a concentration of the sliding rocks is about a half mile hike from the parking area.  We shot until the sun went behind the adjacent peak, at which point the visible texture of the ground all but disappears, and then had to head back to the cars so we could make it back to a paved road before it got too dark.

 

Sliding Rocks
Sliding Rocks

 

As short lived as it was, this time at the Playa was magical.  There was just something about the “feel” of the place.  It may have just been in my head, or because I had looked forward to those moments for so long.  But I was very happy to have experienced and photographed in one of my dream locations, and now look forward to my return.

We finished off the excursion with a follow up trip to the sand dunes but I don’t feel the conditions were as favorable that last morning as they had been when we were there several days earlier. Maybe because there were some high level clouds that softened the light and prevented us from getting those stark lines of light and shadow on the dunes.  It was still a beautiful ending to a magnificent trip. 

 

Sand Dunes, Sunrise
Sand Dunes, Sunrise

 

While it was a quick 3 days I’ll never forget the experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to experience one of my dreams!  I look forward to the day I can return, add to the images of the locations we visited, and maybe visit some of the areas we did not get to.

Hotel Information: Longstreet Inn and Casino – they were very accommodating it was a nice mix of visitors and locals, especially for karaoke night!

If you’re in the area you will want to make a trip to the best sandwich place for miles, KC’s Outpost Saloon and Eatery, 100 E. Main St., Beatty, NV

Many Thanks to Photo Guides: Michael Mariant assisted by Aaron Lambert. (High Sierra Workshops)

Joe Vargas Photography has received no compensation in the writing of this blog post.

Filed Under: Blog, Landscape, Photo Workshops, Travel

The Oregon Coast

By Joe Vargas

Experiences from a bucket list shoot – The Oregon Coast

Haceta Head Lighthouse
Haceta Head Lighthouse

 

Walking through the rolling surf coming in and walking on top of the jagged lava rock was difficult enough, but carrying a tripod with a camera attached in the process made the task even more difficult…

 

Photographing the Oregon Coast has been on my “wish list” ever since I saw the captivating images of the beautiful seascapes with those ominous sea stacks in sharp silhouette to a dusky sky.  When I happened upon a posting from Jim Harmer from Improve Photography  about a photo tour of the area I jumped at the chance. In anticipation of the trip I wondered how I would photograph these iconic features in a unique way when so many before me had made so many stunning images of them.  Sometimes you have to just go with the flow and see what presents itself to your eye.

As the day approached I was both excited and nervous.  The nervous part surprised me.  I travel extensively for work, often alone.  And when traveling for pleasure I almost always travel with my wife.  This time I was traveling alone, for pleasure, to meet 50 or more other photographers, none of whom I knew.  We would be photographing in a natural shoreline setting mostly.  An area to which I had never traveled and about which I knew little.  Would there be walking paths or would we be traversing treacherous terrain?  Honestly I think the nervousness only added to the excitement. Then I realized, I would be much more nervous if I attempted this trip solo without the support of a group.  My wife had no interest in joining me on a photo excursion, and I don’t know what kind of success I would have had convincing any photo buddies to make the trip.  Here I would have the security of many like-minded artists in my company.  This occurred to me on the flight out, and removed any lingering concerns I may have had. I flew into Portland the night before and had dinner with friends I had not seen in years.

The next morning I headed south toward our meeting place in Gold Beach but planned on stopping at Cape Perpetua south of Yachats on the way down to hopefully capture Thor’s Well. As it turned out several of the photographers in our group planned on doing the same.

Searching for Thor’s Well

Ever since seeing my first image of Thor’s Well it was on my dream shoot list. So of course it was a top priority for this trip even though I was not exactly sure where it was or how I would find it.   After driving back and forth around the area where my map app said it would be (in the Cape Perpetua area) I was having no luck spotting it, and it is not identified on the official park map.  As I drove around I noticed a park ground’s keeper in one of the parking lots and stopped to ask if he knew where I could find it.  Sometimes the universe provides what you seek.  He was very pleasant and helpful, and provided key information.  He told me to park in the parking lot for Cook’s Chasm, follow the fairly short and easy hike down to the water and walk out about 50 yards.   He also explained that the best time to see the water flowing into the “well” was about one hour before high tide.  Normal high tide is about 7-8 feet but high tide the day I was there was unusually high at about 10 feet due to the new moon.  High tide was going to be at 11am this day so best viewing would be around 10am, or maybe even earlier due to the super high tide.

I arrived at this area at about 7:30am and decided to scout it out. All the rocks looked the same and I still couldn’t find the well.  It was early so I thought it might be easier to find once the tide started to come in.  I decided to drive around and get familiar with the area for a while, returning to the area about an hour and a half before high tide. When I returned to the area I changed into my wader boots, threw my gear pack on, grabbed my tripod and headed down the trail.  As I walked down the trail, basking in the excitement of the great images I anticipated making, I realized how long it had been since I had spent any real time out in nature, time more than a few hours.

I have always been amazed by the smells of nature and how the air has a distinct smell in different parts of the country and different climatic environments, and the Oregon coast is no exception.  The smell was of forest floor and the sea and crisp air.  The bird cries in the background just added to the moment. As I got down to the water I was overwhelmed by the beauty, and the multitude of scenes to photograph.  You know how when you are completely absorbed in an activity time seems to fly by.  Well I had been photographing all the beautiful scenery and realized it was almost high tide. I needed to get out to Thor’s Well!  Some of the other photographers in the group had located it.

Thor’s Well

Walking through the rolling surf coming in and walking on top of the jagged lava rock was difficult enough, but carrying a tripod with a camera attached in the process made it even more difficult.  As I walked over to the area I realized that in order to get the angle I needed, I needed to get close, and the closer I got the more treacherous the waves became.  I tried my best to time my advance to the shoot spot with the rolling wave sets.  Finally I decided to make my move.  I had decided on and set my exposure before venturing out.  I got into position, found a stable footing for my tripod on the jagged rocks, framed my composition and got off 3-4 frames within about 15-20 seconds just before getting slammed by a very unassuming rogue wave.  It rolled up breaching my 18 inch wading boots as I grabbed my tripod with the camera attached and lifted it over my head to try to protect it.  The wave still splashed my body and camera in salt spray.  As the wave receded I struggled to maintain my balance.  I saw my life (and my camera’s life) flash before my eyes. Finally I recovered my senses and decided it was time to move the heck out of there. I high-tailed it to shore, up the trail to the parking area and to my car.  I wiped my camera and lens with a cloth dampened with fresh water and then with a dry cloth.  I was happy I came prepared.  Then I just prayed that I had not ruined my equipment before the excursion had even started.  Fortunately everything worked fine.  First disaster averted, and a decent image created to boot!

Thor's Well, Oregon Coast
Thor’s Well, Oregon Coast

Before leaving the area I stopped the get some images of the Heceta Head Lighthouse but due to the time of day the lighting was unappealing. Just down the road from the lighthouse is a pull off overlook.  There I found a colony of sea lions on the rocks and several clusters of sea lions in the water all floating together on their sides with their one flipper up in the air which seemed like a very unusual formation.  I struck up a conversation with one of the locals who was there observing the seals and he said he had never seen them do that before.  It did look kind of interesting.

As I continued the drive south on the beautiful winding Pacific Coast Scenic Byway (101) I encountered a lone bicyclist in the middle of the road on a blind curve in a 55 mph speed zone!  Yikes! I fortunately managed to avoid hitting him but I thought “not a smart move”, especially since there was about a 1000 foot drop off at the edge of the road. Whew!

The trip was full of learning opportunities, not the least of which is the fact that it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon ( and also New Jersey apparently).  After pulling up to the pump I got out of the car, swiped the card and started pumping away.  There wasn’t anyone else around.  After a few minutes a young woman walked out of the building and over to me and informed me that pumping my own gas is illegal.  I had no idea.  Fortunately she didn’t turn me in.  You learn something new every day.

From our base camp at Gold Beach over the next few days we photographed several spectacular locations in the area.  The first evening we drove just south to Cape Sebastian State Park (Boardman) where there were several really great areas to explore and photograph.  Unfortunately due to my knees already acting up from the up and down of the trail at Thor’s Well, I was not able to make it down to the area known as Secret Beach via a rather treacherous trail one of our photographers found.  It wasn’t until much later I found out there was a much safer trail that would have brought me to the same area with a little longer hike.  Instead I shot from a cliff overlooking Thunder Cove.

Thunder Cove - Oregon Coast
Thunder Cove – Oregon Coast

The Elusive Green Flash…

For years I have heard about “The Green Flash”.  If you haven’t heard of it, it is a phenomenon that occurs under just the right circumstances when the sun sets over the ocean, or a nice unobstructed horizon, and as the sun disappears into the horizon, at the very last moment of light, the light turns a bright green just for a nanosecond before it disappears completely.  It has always been part myth and part fantasy in my mind, but I have always been on the lookout for it when the opportunity presented itself.  Well that evening on the cliff overlooking Thunder Cove as I watched the sun set I peered intently through the 200mm lens on my camera and BAM!  There is was, at the last moment of life for the day, just before the last vestiges of the sun disappeared into the ocean, I saw it.  For a split second I stared in disbelief as what I had just witnessed sunk in.  I love that feeling of excitement you get when you experience something special and it doesn’t get much more special than that moment. And no, I did not capture it with my camera.  It happens so fast I don’t know how you could.  And I wasn’t going to risk missing the moment.  I just stopped and set my attention on the moment.

Geological “Roots” of the Sea Stacks.

Based on a little research it appears the history of the sea stacks is not clear but it’s widely believed that they stem from a lava flow somewhere between 5 million and 25 million years ago, made from Columbia River Basalts.  Apparently the same material that makes up many of the sea stacks and most of the mountains south of the Columbia River.  Sea stacks along the southern coast of Oregon may be made up of sandstone or other materials.  Of course over the eons these rock formations wave been eroded by wind and sea to the magnificent formations we see today.

No climbing required…

Along the coast south of Gold Beach is an area called Myers Beach.  Unfortunately I noticed this beach as I was leaving the area and did not get a chance to shoot there.  What caught my attention is that this beach is at road level and did not require hiking down the side of a cliff to get to.  There were several large sea stacks just off shore that made a striking silhouette against the fading dusk sky.  Definitely an area I have marked in my memory to return to next time.  I wish I had noticed this area earlier, my knees would have been very grateful.

Food!

As I mentioned, I was in the company of a large group of photographers on this trip.  We typically split into small groups and targeted different areas to shoot so that no one area was overrun by 50+ photographers.  Most nights there was a particular restaurant identified for those in the group who wanted to eat together.  It was mostly pizza and local family run restaurants. We usually fended for ourselves for lunch.  One day I went to lunch with a photographer I had met and with whom I had shot at some of the locations.  We went to a restaurant in Port Oxford called the Crazy Norwegian.  A small place but the food was fantastic and the staff were great!   I had the Fried Oyster PoGirl.  It was amazing!  So good in fact I went back the next day and had it again.  The owner, Dianne, was warm and friendly.  If you are ever in that area I highly recommend stopping in to sample their great food.

Redwoods!

We were relatively close to an area with some Redwoods called Jedadiah Smith State Park.  The group planned to meet there early Saturday morning but I had been up late the night before and not being a morning person to begin with, headed out a little later than the rest of the group and unfortunately missed them by the time I got down there.  I wished I had made the effort to get to the location earlier because I had missed the best of the light by the time I arrived.  It was still an exhilarating experience seeing those magnificent sentinels for the first time.  I have added a return to the Redwoods on my next trip to this area.

Redwoods!
Redwoods!

Parting Shot

On the last evening, before visiting the Redwoods Saturday morning, I had what I can only describe as a magical moment.  I had been shooting the Haceta Head Lighthouse at sunset with some success.  I got word that some of the photographers earlier had gone farther up the trail to a higher vantage point to shoot the lighthouse but with my knees in the condition they were I didn’t want to chance pushing any higher on a much steeper trail.  Knowing that for every step I took going up I would have a step coming down and the hiking down was more painful, I decided to stay where I was. After the sun had set and the light was going out of the sky I decided to head down the trail and back to the parking area.  At the bottom of the trail it was a short walk to the parking lot across the beach.  As I walked across the beach in the falling light I looked out over the sea and the scene in from of me, and it took my breath away.  A beautiful silhouette of sea stacks, cliffs and trees against a Technicolor sky. I stopped, set up my tripod and shot there for the next 30 minutes, waiting until it was dark enough to see some stars. By that time the place was deserted. It was a magical feeling standing there in the dark, alone with this spectacular site. This is the last frame I took. I didn’t even notice the shooting star until I viewed the image on my computer screen when I got home. This image for me seemed to sum up the whole experience of that week…spectacular!

Magical Twilight on the Oregon Coast
Magical Twilight

A fitting end to an indescribable week.  How could it get any better than this, and then…

Surprise Ending

As I was driving back to Portland I had stopped at an overlook to absorb as much of this beautiful coastline as I could, knowing I would soon be on a plane back home.  Before driving off I checked my phone for emails and read an email stating that I was the winner of a drawing for a Death Valley photo workshop.  I remembered filling out the form for the drawing some time back but as I read it I thought “this must be some kind of computer glitch”, thinking their email program had mistakenly sent this email to everyone who entered and sure I would get a follow up “Oops” email.  Then I did get a follow up email, but it was another “congratulations” with instructions to respond if I could accept my prize or they would have to go to the alternate winner next on the drawn names.  I think I went into a brief period of shock. I could not believe what I was reading.  I knew I had some critical trip scheduled for work around that time so I checked my work calendar quickly and was very relieved to find I was open for the workshop days!   I remember my fingers shaking as I typed the response, yes, yes, yes, I will absolutely be there!   It seemed almost impossible that I was going to get to check off two big bucket list items in the span of about 6 weeks, after waiting a lifetime.  Surely this was a sign, a sign telling me to pursue my dreams.

Don’t forget to check out the post about my Death Valley adventure. If this post appeals to your sense of adventure, love of travel, joy of photography or you just liked reading it, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog.  You’ll get notified whenever I have a new post or information about upcoming events!

Filed Under: Blog, Landscape, Travel Tagged With: Images

Welcome to my blog…

By Joe Vargas

Abstract, B&W, Pylons, Orcas Island
Abstract Orcas Island

I have been making images for over 30 years. Most recently I have been focused on general fine art, landscape and travel photography, often combining these as an expression of the beauty of this planet and the joy of experiencing the sights, sounds, food and cultures it offers.  I love to travel and I love photography.   I look forward to sharing this passion with any and all who would like to take this journey with me.

Please add your email to get updates on my travels and posts.  Feel free to let me know what you enjoy about this site and what you would like to see.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: abstract, B&W, black and white, dreamlike, orcas island, photography, pylons

  • Landscape
  • Travel
  • Food and Wine

Copyright © 2021 · Joe Vargas Photography