Artists Pallet
Sometimes the saturation slider needs to be pushed
Sometimes the saturation slider needs to be pushed.
Timing is everything.
When we visited Death Valley for the first time, our first stop was Zabriskie Point. It’s on California 190 as you drive north just before reaching Furnace Creek.
We arrived in the afternoon. The light was all wrong. I was immensely disappointed because the place looked nothing like the photo that had encouraged me to come here.
Carrying on to the visitor’s centre at Furnace Creek we learned more about Death Valley, and the places we could visit in the Prius. The Racetrack Playa or Eureka Dunes were off the table, but Badwater Basin and the Artists Pallet were accessible.
Badwater Basin
In March of 2022, Death Valley had been without any measurable rain for a long time. Liddy and I drove down — literally as it is some two hundred feet below mean sea level — to Badwater Basin intending to shoot the salt formations. Problem is, without water, the salt formations fall apart. We did not spend a lot of time here.
Artists Pallet.
Driving back north towards Stovepipe Wells, we stopped at Artists Pallet.
Artists Pallet should be visited in the afternoon. This is because it is on the west side of the same mountains as Zabriskie Point. The fantastic nature of both locations is caused by the interplay of light and shadows on the multicoloured landscape. If the light is wrong, the view will be just flat (blah is the technical term).
When I arrived at Artists Pallet, it was getting toward sunset. The sun was low in the west. Pretty much ideal conditions for March.
First a panorama.
After setting up and shooting a couple of frames, I turned the camera ninety degrees and captured the 15-frame panorama at the top of this post.
I think I like this photo best of those I took that day because it puts the smaller wash with the exciting colours into context. Trouble is, to do the image justice, it needs to be printed six feet wide by two feet tall. On my computer display, it isn't much more than another shot of a desert mountain range.
Focus on the feature.
In this image, I framed up the area with coloured sand. The Artists Pallet proper. I have not done anything here except to crop it 16:9, the standard laptop and TV screen ratio.
While there was a bit more colour than this, in person, it isn’t too far off of what I remember.
Bring out the colours.
In this version, I have brought up the contrast in the image overall, but more importantly, I have used the colour range masking tool in Lightroom to isolate the colours in the landscape. Then I saturated and brightened the heck out of them (no way do they glow this much in reality).
This is where photography begins to cross the line between journalism (show it the way you saw it) and art. I don’t pretend to be a journalist. I think of myself as an apprentice Nature Photographer. In this role, I am attempting to create fine art. When successful, fine art deserves to be printed and hung on a wall for all to appreciate.
Landscape shaped by weather.
You can see the way water has carved channels down the mountain side causing the different coloured sediments to be revealed.
Liddy and I visited, Death Valley in March of last year. Later in the year the area experienced some major storms. There was extensive flooding with roads being destroyed in places.
Because of the storms I expect places like Artists Pallet and Zabriskie Point as well as other features have experienced major re-sculpting. And oh yeah. There should be new water in Badwater Basin. The salt formations have likely been renewed. I guess Liddy and will have to make a road trip and find out for sure.
About the Author
Dave Scott is a nature and travel photographer who loves to explore. Or is that an explorer who loves to do nature and travel photography?
I squandered my youth providing for my family. Now, I have recused myself from the rat race and invested my time in finding those places that inspire me. The Pacific Northwest provides many opportunities that are close to home.
Follow my journeys. I hope to engage you and inspire you to get out and begin your journey.
The world is a beautiful place. Share the beauty. Leave only footsteps.