Dates: Thursday through Sunday, April 3-6, 2008

Transportation: By private auto - carpool arrangements where possible
 
Accommodations: Motel accommodations at the Stovepipe Wells Motel; single supplements available

Weather: cool to mild days (70's to 80's), cool to cold evenings (40's to 50s)

Cost: $450 (With single supplement: $600)

The Trip: Come along and learn about nature and nature photography in Death Valley. The weekend will focus on the fabulous landscapes in this new national park; we’ll travel us to some of the Valley’s more famous locations, including the giant sand dunes, Badwater, and Zabriskie Point. We will also visit other, less known, but equally fascinating places in the Valley. We may have an opportunity to photograph wildlife, such as coyotes, road runners, and even some rather unusual insects, as well as desert wildflowers.

The Instructor: Dave Wyman has conducted innumerable outings to Death Valley, from photography workshops to backpack trips, since 1973. Some of his Death Valley images appear in the the Sierra Club Guidebook to National Parks of California and Dave’s own book, Backroads of Southern California.

Who is this trip for: novice through advanced photographers
.
What will be Provided:
• Trip leaders/instructors
• Motel accommodations
• Dinner Saturday night at Stovepipe Wells
• Lunch Saturday, in the field
• Guided photo walks, field demonstrations, slide shows
• Help with carpooling

What You Need To Bring:
• Camera gear (see below)
• Money for gasoline, and for meals
• Clothes for cool and warm conditions, including a knit cap or ski cap
• Comfortable walking shoes 
• Optional items: prints or a CD with some (up to  20) of your photographs.

Camera Equipment: This is the trip to bring it all along - super wide angle lenses, telephoto optics, filters galore, etc. But if the truth be told, a basic camera with one lens will work just fine.  Two recommended accessories are: a tripod, to allow you to photograph early and late in the day, and a remote release to trigger your camera while it's on the tripod. You may be able to borrow a tripod from a friend, or some camera shops rent them. Two  filters for aficionados: the polarizer and the 81A or 81B warming filter (the latter for photographers using film).

Film Considerations: Bring any sort of film. Fujichrome slide films offer the best in color saturation and is very fine grained. Both Fuji and Kodak have excellent print films, too. A good,
all around film speed for print film is about ISO 200.

Digital Photographers: Don’t forget an extra battery and/or a battery charger, and enough SD or CF cards.

Meals: The trip includes a group dinner on Thursday night at the Stovepipe Wells motel, and a picnic lunch on Saturday. We’ll be near areas to purchase food - at markets and restaurants - at meal times during the trip.

When you send payment (via snail mail to 1164 Alvira Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90035, or by credit card using paypal.com, we'll mail back a receipt and any additional trip information, including a map. If you have more questions, contact Dave Wyman at (323) 377-7565. You can also sign up via the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Basic directions: From the Southern California area, take Highway 14 north to the Ridge Crest/Highway 178 junction. Continue through the little town of Trona, where you can make a last fill-up of reasonably priced gas. Continue 40 miles past Trona to the Highway 190 junction. Turn right - east - at the junction, and continue about 25 miles up and over the mountains at Towne Pass, dropping down to Stovepipe Wells. The campground is on the right, the motel on the left. Dave will be on site Friday by 2 p.m. at the motel, in the patio by the flagpole. From the north, Death Valley can be accessed from Highway 395, near the little town of Lone Pine. Take Highway 136 east to Highway 190. From the east - Las Vegas - there are several routes. One goood one: Highway 160 east from Las Vegas, to Highway 190 at the little town of Death Valley Junction.

Itinerary: We will travel the central and southern confines of the Park and touch the northern reaches, too. For those who arrive by 2 p.m. on Thursday, we’ll depart from Stovepipe Wells and photograph afternoon light on the giant sand dunes, two miles east of the motel. Slide show in the patio in front of the motel in the later evening, weather permitting. On Friday, we’ll arise early to photograph sunlight over the giant sand dunes. Sleepy heads can meet the group for breakfast on our return to Stovepipe Wells. Depart for Furnace Creek area. Picnic lunch after visiting Badwater and the adjacent salt flats. Travel to Zabriskie Point and Salt Creek in the afternoon. Return to Stovepipe Wells for dinner and a slide show. Saturday, explore fantastic Titus Canyon, with it's soaring rock walls and colorful desert vistas. We'll also photograph the ghost town of Rhyolite. On Sunday, we’ll visit Scotty’s Castle and Ubehebe Crater, then depart for home.