Morro Bay, US
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For planning your arrival to Death Valley:
1) If you are flying to the workshop, the airport of arrival & departure should be McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas; driving time from Las Vegas to Death Valley is 2.5 hours.
McCarran airport hosts nearly all rental car companies. It is recommended to rent a vehicle with a high ground clearance. (Leave the Kia at the airport.) A 4WD drive is not necessary but certainly helpful. (Note: Being Las Vegas, the most popular and most numerous 4WD rental vehicle is a Hummer!)
Warning about Rental Vehicles:
Most vehicle rental agreements restrict vehicles to paved roads. Check your contract and be aware that the rental company can charge you for damage to the vehicle outside of the contract agreement specifications. Be sure that your rental vehicle has a good spare tire, that the tire is accessible and not “locked” into a keyed holder, and that the tools to change the tire, including jacks and wrenches, are in the vehicle and accessible. Driving a sedan or similar low-profile vehicle on the dirt roads in Death Valley National Park can cause damage to the undercarriage of the vehicle.
2) If you are driving to the workshop, there are multiple routes into the park, all leading to Furnace Creek Ranch in the center of the park.
3) The workshop begins at 11:30am on Thursday. This start time allows for travel to the park in the morning from either Las Vegas (to the east) or either Lone Pine or Ridgecrest (from the west). This means you can arrive to the region on Wednesday evening, and then driving to the park in the morning. If you choose to drive to the park on Wednesday, then you will need to secure your own lodging in the park. Outside of the park, to the west, the closest cities are Lone Pine and Ridgecrest. To the east, Las Vegas and Pahrump have ample lodging choices and are a short drive to the park.
4) If you need to rent a car, I will be starting a carpool discussion on this forum thread in the week's ahead to attempt to consolidate the number of vehicles we have in the park, in addition to providing carpool arrangements from Las Vegas.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) of HIGH importance:
Q: What kind of footwear do I need?
A: We will be doing walking/very light duty hiking for some locations and trekking through sand dunes. Light-duty hiking shoes/boots are required. DO NOT wear sandals or tennis/running-style shoes.
Q: What type of clothing should I pack?
A: Weather in Death Valley can be inclement, but mostly warm. Forecast calls for highs in the low-90s and lows in the high-50s. This can change quickly and the temps can rise easily in to the 100s. Please bring clothing for all temps, from the pre-dawn setup cold to the heat of the day. Remember a hat to cover your head is a MUST!
Q: OK, it's called Death Valley — how much water do I need? Are there water fountains there?
A: You must bring enough water battles (Nalgene or metal; not plastic grocery store, Arrowhead, etc.) for yourself for an entire day. Death Valley (note the park name) has a very dry heat that dehydrates the body quickly. Experts say to plan on 3/4 - to - 1 gallon of water per day per person; that's three or four 32 oz. Nalgene bottles. (I recommend bringing two 32 oz. Nalgene bottles.) You will be able to refill the bottles each morning in your room and store them in the vehicles. We will never be more than 1/2-mile away from the vehicles at any location. And, no, there are no water fountains outside of the developed areas.
Q: What are the meal/eating plans?
A: With the exception of one lunch, we will be eating all of our meals in established restaurants. If you have special dietary needs, please plan accordingly and do not depend on the dining facilities to make accommodations.
Q: Is there cell service in Death Valley?
A: There is pretty much no cell phone reception in Death Valley for any of the carriers, with exception for some random spots where you might get one bar. Oddly enough, there is free wifi at Stovepipe Wells, where we will be staying. There are no phones in the rooms at Stovepipe Wells. There is also free wifi at the Visitor Center in Furnace Creek. Time is scheduled in the itinerary for stops at the Visitor Center to allow for internet access.
Q: Are there any special pieces of camera gear I need?
A: This workshop is designed for all levels of photographers and we really don't focus on specific, specialized techniques that would require any special equipment. A tripod, though, is required. If you have flash(s) that you can bring, we could do a couple exercises in CLS/flash lighting techniques in the field, if you wish to pursue this shooting technique after the exercises.
Two pieces of equipment that could be very beneficial (and an excellent part of your regular, landscape photography set-up) but not required during the workshop would be:
1) A cable/shutter release that allows for off-camera trigger of the shutter as well as controlled long exposure in the 'bulb' setting. This allows you to have exposures beyond the 30 second limit of most Nikon cameras; this is very helpful during the astrophotography/star trails session. A simple cable release that just 'trips' the shutter will fall short for the astrophotography session. You will need a shutter release that can hold the shutter open for longer than 30 seconds.
2) A graduated ND (neutral-densisty filter). We will have sunrise and sunset locations each day and a graduated filter will help enhance and balance out the bright sky from the darker foreground.
Q: Which lenses should I bring?
A: Everything! It would be impossible to say exactly which lenses you would need as that choice is a reflection of your creative vision in how you see the scene. I can say that you probably wouldn't need any long lenses beyond 200/300mm. On the wide end, the wider lenses will be great for some of your creative options in many of the locations.
Take a look at the gallery from past year's workshops for a sense of the type of shooting options and subjects.
And as is the case with all my workshops, I encourage an open discussion here in this forum about what gear everyone is planning on bringing, as others might remind you or have a good suggestion for an item you didn't think about!
Q: What non-photographic things should I bring?
A: A flashlight and/or headlamp is a must. We will be arriving at our sunrise locations in the dark and leaving our sunset locations in the dark, so the extra light is a must. As mentioned earlier, a hat is required also.
Q: Will we be carpooling?
A: Yes! During the workshop orientation on the first day, we will set-up carpools to minimize the number of vehicles used daily. If you have a big car that you are driving/rented and are willing to carpool, please reply here in the forum stating as such.
If you are interested in carpooling from the Las Vegas airport, for those that are flying, here on the forum post is where I will start the discussions on setting up carpools with your fellow workshop participants.
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Michael A. Mariant
Nikonians Academy Faculty
Master Your Vision Workshops
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