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...