Death Valley

Death Valley, January 2011

'How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains'....John Muir

Death Valley seems rather quiet this time of year. Not sure why as the weather is great - around 68 degrees.

Up early yesterday to catch a sunrise out at Zabriske Point. The 'Point' just might be one of the best places to catch a sunrise - afternoon sunset was at Dante's View.

As mentioned yesterday I am road testing a new camera, the Alpa SW. The Alpa is a Swiss made, view camera style, lightweight camera. Basically it is a body, lens and digital back. No mirrors or zoom lens to deal with - just a high quality view camera lens, and I am out with a Schneider 48MM 5.6.

Basically I wanted to drop the amount of weight in my backpack and the Alpa , for me, is the perfect choice. The camera rides around my neck on the very well made  Alpa neckstrap and I carry my tripod. In my Scottie Vest are spare batteries and a few filters - no backpack - no weight....Amazing

Int he future will probably add another lens and a few accessories that will need a small backpack but still my guess is that I save minimum 10-15 pounds.

More on the Alpa tomorrow...

Red Rocks

Red Rocks National Park, Las Vegas, Nevada

Arrived Vegas yesterday, rented a car and headed out to Death Valley for a couple of days. Bought a new camera, an Alpa SW, and thought I would take it out for a test drive in the desert. Since I had to be in Vegas on Thursday this seemed a perfect short adventure.

On the way out of Vegas saw a signpost for Red Rock National Park and headed off in that direction. Never really knew there was a National Park so close to Vegas. Another one crossed off the bucket list.

Lots to learn about this camera still but here is the first image. More the camera in tomorrow's blog - have to run and off and catch the sunrise at Zabriske Point.