California, 4th November, early morning at Dante's View

Another early start from our nice warm bed and 5.00am saw us driving to Dante's View. This is another iconic photographers dream of a vista. Overlooking Death Valley at a height of 5,500ft you can see 100 miles of pure scenery spread out below you.
When we got there it was still dark and so we had plenty of time to watch the light grow and the sun come up. We were not alone, there must have been 4 other cars joining ours but it wasn't crowded. From the ridge at the top you can see east and west with the sun rising behind you and the view to the west. When we got there the salt pans were in complete darkness so I took a couple of pictures of the brightening horizon, looking over the road we had just come up by.



As the sky turned pink above the Panamint range it was time to face west and shoot in that direction. We stayed out for some time watching the light change. It was bitterly cold. Mairi retreated to the car to phone home and I lost the feeling in my hands. But I think it was worth it. Once the sunshine had reached the bottom of the mountains it was time to pack up and go, feeling privileged.











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