Printing the Image - Ann at Death Valley

We’ve had a crazy schedule these past few weeks with a lot on our plates, ending with a winter storm fouling up our plans to see Michael Kenna at the Portland Japanese Gardens last Saturday.  So what do you do when events try their best to stop your photography - you print!  On Sunday we warmed up the Canon and made some prints!

Ann had been doing a mix of importing her images into Capture One and and periodically working on them.  At the beginning of the weekend she asked me to look at a few of her Death Valley images that she was hoping to work on further, wondering which ones she should then print.  By Sunday she was ready.

Both images come from the same day and with both she wanted to capture the special quality of light - one in the morning and the other in the evening.

The first image came from our session at 20 Mule Canyon Road, looking back down towards Death Valley just before the sun topped the horizon. 

It’s a lovely view down a wash that, although not often, definitely flows.  Off in the distance, before the valley you can see the Zabriskie point.  I look at it and I’m brought back to that morning - exactly what Ann had intended.

The second print was from our hike back from the Ibex Dunes when the sky lit up.

What I love about this image is that Ann has managed to capture the pink cast that had descended on everything and the way the dunes simply glowed in the reflected light.  A couple of minutes earlier, only the clouds were pink, a few minutes later, the clouds became dramatically intense in color, which darkened the rest of the landscapes.

One may think that, “It’s a landscape, you have all the time in the world to make your photograph.”  But that’s not the case; so often things are momentary, and Ann was able to capture the moment.

Best of all, for both images, you can see it in the print!