A Pessimists Worst Nightmare
While I admit I haven't seen *every* photo ever taken in Death Valley, I have seen a lot. David Thompson has some of the best Death Valley National Park photos on the planet. It helps that he lives just around the corner in Las Vegas and can dart over to explore often. He showed Willie and I this photo and knew we'd be imitating him (I think someone mentioned he got it from someone else, but I'm too lazy to research the history of this, so for now the credit goes to David).
He gave us a hint to its location and off we went. We *nearly* got our SUV stuck by going too far but I had the wherewithal to turn back and sure enough we find the viewpoint. From perched up high you look down at the Mesquite Sand Dunes. From this angle, with a long telephoto lens, the sand dunes look as if they go on forever and ever. I wouldn't want to be a pessimist trying to cross these, as it feels like an endless cycle of going up and down ... up and down.
We had about a 5 minute window to make these photos. A bit earlier in the sunset and the sand dunes have too harsh of bright spots without the golden glow of sunset. A few minutes later and the sun was too low and you lost the glow completely, replaced entirely in shadow. I left the photographer and his camera in this photo to give you a sense of scale. Can you spot him down at the bottom of the photo?
Nikon D850 w/Sigma 150-600mm:
600mm, f/11, 1/125 sec, ISO 400