8 Minutes 11 seconds
Sean Scanlon
'8 Minutes 11 seconds' On Black
5:01 BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BAM (as the snooze button is slammed down)
5:06 Arghhh...alright, I'll get my lazy arse up. But there better be some stars damnit, past two mornings I've woken up at 5am, rushed out in the cold and dark, and been hosed by overcast and cloudy conditions. Bill...Bill...stop snoring and wake your ass up, let's go.
5:10 Nothing like a can of cold espresso and cream when it's 40 degrees outside! How did photographers survive before canned coffee? Just part of the Starbucks plan to rule the world I'm sure.
5:15 Ok, batteries charged. Check. Memory cards cleaned. Check. Lenses cleaned. Check. 24-105 on the 5d, yep, 70-200 on the 10d...yep. Oh wait, I'm supposed to say check. Cooler is in the car, camera bags, tripod. Should I put on the long johns? No, it should warm up. Real boots instead of those fakes ones. Yup. Great...should have packed another pair of socks...ewwww...these are ripe. Bill, you ready? Great. Let's hit the road.
5:20 On the road again! Hey, look at that Bill, stars! Never been so damn excited to see stars in my life. (A weekends photo trip washed out by overcast conditions will do that to you).
5:25 Uh oh...are those clouds rolling in. Quick, put on Hallelujah....we need divine intervention. No, I don't care if that makes me a nut job, it got us an hour of sun yesterday...put it on!
5:27 Hallelujah...does it say she broke your throat and cut your hair? I don't think so, but maybe this isn't the divine intervention we need after all. (note...it's throne not throat!)
5:45 Ok, this looks as good a place as any to park, probably should have scouted better last night. Tough to pick out where you are going to trudge a mile through the sand when it's a moonless night and the sun isn't up.
5:50 Flashlight. Check. Camera bag. Check. Tripod. Check. Water...grab plenty of water, don't want to go the way of Sue and John. Damn...it's cold, should have put on those long johns. And a second shirt. Too late now, let's go.
5:55 Bill...turn off that headlamp, you look like a dork! How are my eyes supposed to adjust to the low light anyways.
5:58 Cool...are those snake tracks? That beanie cap and gloves were a good call.
6:01 You know how you can tell someone has never lived at the beach? They think it's cool to walk on the beach. Walking in sand sucks.
6:10 Probably should have thought about hitting the restroom before heading out here.
6:14 I wonder how I'd look with a beard...do the femmes go for the grizzly adams look nowadays?
6:20 Well, we aren't going to make it to those big dunes, geez, they just keep getting farther away the more we walk. Time to make a stand.
6:25 Alright, this looks like the spot. Come on clouds...don't...let the sun come out....pleeeeeeease. Stay away...stop drifting towards the sun.
6:30 (watching the clouds move ever closer to where the sun is going to rise)
6:35 Tripod setup, scan the dunes...really could have used those long johns right about now. And really, you should think about getting better gloves, tough to do anything wearing ski gloves when working a camera.
6:37 Various shots of the pre sunrise dunes while warily watching the clouds drift closer and closer to where the sun is going to come up.
6:39 Oh look, wind is kicking up a little. (watches a "wave" of sand blow in the wind). You can really see how the dunes are reformed every night. Ahhh...(spits sand out of mouth and wipes off face). Yeah, that wasn't all that smart.
6:45 Ok, 7 minutes until go time...stay away clouds. This was the single number one reason for coming out to Death Valley...sand dune shots at sunrise! Of course, maybe we shouldn't have waited until the end of the trip, but hey...this sand is going to put some serious bad mojo on these cameras, Canon Factory service center...here I come.
6:48 Sunriiiise..sunset...geez, nice ear worm. That one backfired, but it will all be worth it if it's stuck in Bill's head for the rest of the week.
6:52 Ok, so I should have looked at the exact time the sun was going to rise. But this works, some great soft light on the dunes.
6:59 We have sun on the mountains!
7:02 Closer...closer...light bathing the valley floor...stay away clouds. Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!
7:07:20 Fire...fire...snap snap snap...sun! Stay away clouds.
Snap...snap...over there...oh...look at that. Move up the dune a little...Crap...(foot slides down the face of the dune in the soft sand)...can you really pull your groin taking pictures?
Snap...snap...slow down sparky. Look...compose. Where's the ND, oops, no time for that. Bracket and worry about the details later. Stay away clouds...noooooooooooo.
7:15:31...snap...fade to shadow...sigh...and there it goes.
8 minutes 11 seconds, sometimes that's all you get.
Death Valley Dunes
Stove Pipe Wells, CA
December 2006
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