Daylight Pass Cutoff

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

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Death Valley national park is the closest national park to where I live after Joshua Tree and when I heard that a rare super bloom was happening there after almost 11 years, I knew it was time for a second visit. Only problem was I only had a day to do it and drive for almost 9 hours back and forth as there were no hotel rooms available for me to stay over.

So that’s what I did and to say it was hectic would be an understatement. I left early in the day and thanks to a cloudy colorless sunset I managed to get home by 11pm. And death Valley as usual didn’t disappoint. It’s a stunning sight to see the whole valley covered in desert gold flowers. This shot was taken at the Beatty cutoff road from over a ridge. Hope you all make it here.

• Claude Monet.

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It's evident to anyone who ever followed my images that I am fascinated by deserts. I love visiting the desert landscape and photographing them. But one of the elements that I struggle with is conveying the emotions a desert landscape can evoke in an observer. A vast swath of the desert landscape is often devoid of any features until you look hard enough, it's like you have to coax the beauty out of the scene. I found a different challenge with woodland forests, there is too much going on, and it's difficult to single out a fascinating subject.

Then came the news of the super bloom in Death Valley due to the unusually heavy rains during the winter. My wife couldn’t take off from work, and my job was driving me up the walls. I ended up planning a quick trip to Death Valley NP. I had to get to the park and be back on the same day, as I could only get a day off, and the super bloom was such big news. All the accommodations, including campsites in the park, were gone. I made the 10-hour round trip to Death Valley and got to witness one of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen, a desert full of life.

While it's easy to appreciate the vastness of Death Valley while you are driving through, I have had a hard time bringing it out in my images. This image was a try at emphasizing the size of the Valley. The road crossing over at the horizon and a vehicle that appeared right on cue hopefully convey the vastness of the landscape. I didn’t have any exciting light that day, but the flowers more than made up for it.

• Pat Buckley.

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One more shot from Death Valley national park and that of the super bloom. This shot was taken right by the roadside and I stopped here at the tail end of my trip just before heading back on my 4 hr trip back home. I always loved the vast expanse of the Valley and tried to get a bit of that in this shot.

It was super awesome to see the vast expanse of the valley that was covered in yellow carpet of blooming desert gold flowers. Hope you guys like it..

• Jack London.

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A panorama shot of Death valley national park during sunset. The yellow flowers you see on the floor are desert gold and this phenomenon is called super bloom. Last time this happened was 10 years ago as it needs heavy rains and moderate temperature to happen and that’s pretty rare in one of the hottest and driest places in the world. These plants have seeds which can lay dormant for years waiting for ideal conditions and finally when that happens they come off the dry desert floor with amazing colors contrasting against the stark desert landscape.

It was especially nice to see lots of people driving through the park and enjoying the flowers by walking among and smelling them. I had a blast enjoying this even though the day was cloudy for most of the time and I had a 9 hour round trip to do in 15 hrs. thanks for visiting hope you all like it.