Death Valley has grown to be one of my favorite national parks. On my recent road trip that found me in Death Valley and ending my National Park visiting fiasco at Capitol Reef NP, I finally found the elusive mud cracks!
I found a very interesting patch of cracks and awaited as the sun was setting under the west mountain range. The photo is an image blend to save the highlights/shadows.
Cheers!
Great shot Martin. Loving the leading lines into that awesome sun star! I gotta make it back to Death Valley to shoot sometime, its only 5 hours away from me but haven’t had the motivation to drive back after coming through in June when it was 120.
The light and your processing of it are gorgeous. Your composition does an excellent job of creating a high impact arrangement of the mud cracks. How long did it take you to find the specific positioning of the cracks in this shot?
Nicely executed given the cloudless conditions. Beautifully composed and processed. I’ve spent more than a few sunrise/sunsets at these cracks myself.
There seems to be a never ending interpretations of these cracks. This one has a swirling whirlpool feel to it. Shooting them into the sun gives a different perspective as well.
Nice shot man, I love how the mud cracks in the FG are more swirly and less geometrical like the standard horizontal/vertical lines we usually see from here.
Compositionally the dead center light source and sun star work quite well with how the mud flows directly toward the viewer, all seeming to flow from the sun. I never tire of these cracked mud images, and I find that the “wet and slippery” look makes for a wonderful variation. Thanks for sharing.
Those patterns in the mud are amazing!
Wonderful image! You really maximized the effect of the setting sun and got a great shot. I love photographing Death Valley myself.
Well done! THe direct light has been handled beautifully
Really interesting how much these lines flow like water. Of course that makes sense, but I don’t really think water movement when I see these cracked mud shots normally. Great shot! Nice job
This is really well done! That low backlight really shows them well!
Wonderful light on the mud as well as a great focal point in that sunstar.
Very nice swirl of mud cracks leading to that beautiful sunstar!
