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Death Valley 2009
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January 2009    More Death Valley Photos        More Leica Reviews

 

Here are some snaps from a Death Valley and Eastern Sierra trip made January 16-21, 2009.

These were all snapped with a Leica full-frame system using the RealRaw EX-S/EX-Rtm process, which costs a fraction of what I almost paid for a Nikon D3X body.

See Tech Details for more tech details.

 

Toilet

Toilet. enlarge. Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 81A filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Lunar Landscape

Lunar Surface after Mans' First Contact. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot inRealRaw EX-S/EX-R.
Yes, these colors are really what's on the RealRaw media.
Tech details.

 

Easter Island

Easter Island Statues as found on the Lunar Surface. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter,
Fuji Velvia 50
shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R.
Tech details.

 

Weird Relationship

Strange Juxtapositions. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. These Pinatubian magenta colors are natural. These come up about 20 minutes after sunset for just a few minutes, if you're paying attention. They are caused by fine volcanic dust in the upper atmosphere, recently kicked up by a volcanic eruption someplace else on Earth. Tech details.

 

The Creation

The Creation. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. If you look closely you'll see some white dots in the sky. These are what scientists call stars. Tech details.

 

The Power of the Sea

The Incredible Power of the Sea. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter,
Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R.
Tech details.

 

Rectangles

Rectangles. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 50mm f/2 (1970), 39mm 81A filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

The Acropolis

The Acropolis. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 85C filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Titus Canyon

View from inside Titus Canyon. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 90mm f/2 APO ASPH at f/4, 55mm 81A filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Arroyo de los Muertos

Arroyo de los Muertos. enlarge.    top.

Leica M4-P with Leica Meter MR-4 (1980), Leica 50mm f/2 (1970), f/5.6 at 1/250, 39mm 85C filter, Fuji Velvia 50. Tech details.

 

Teakettle Junction

Teakettle Junction. enlarge.    top.

Leica M4-P and Meter MR-4 (1980), 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 85C, f/11 at 1/50,
1.7m (6.5m), SF-24D flash at full power, Fuji Velvia 50.
Tech details.

 

The Racetrack

The Racetrack. enlarge.    top.

Leica M4-P and Meter MR-4, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 85C filter,
f/11 at 1/30, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R.
Tech details.

 

Bus

Bus, Lone Pine. enlarge.    top.

Leica M4-P and Meter MR-4, Leica 90mm f/2.8 Tele (Germany, 1987), 39mm 81A filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Pink Wheel

The Pink Wheel. enlarge.    top.

Leica M4-P and Meter MR-4, Leica 90mm f/2.8 Tele (Germany, 1987), 39mm 81A filter, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

McDonald's

McDonalds.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 90mm f/2 APO ASPH, f/5.6 at 1/90, 55mm 81A, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Trapezoid

Trapezoids. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 50mm f/2 (1970), 39mm 81A filter and 58mm polarizer with
step-up ring, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R.
Tech details.

 

Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, focus set to 6.5m (20'), 39mm 85C filter and 58mm Tiffen 0.6 ND grad with step-up ring, two minutes at f/5.6 followed by 10 minutes at f/2.8, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. I lost the top because it was so dark that I didn't notice as I composed.

I do the math in my head to calculate time exposures on these shots, since the M7's meter only reads to 32 seconds. I meter at full aperture, stop down and start a bulb exposure. I figure I'll have plenty of time to calculate the total exposure while the exposure is already in process. I also use a pocket-sized Gossen DigiSix, which read LV -3 incident a minute into the exposure. To get the DigiSix to read this low, lock the reading at LV 0 and hold the meter button to read differential exposure, which lets you read down to about LV -9!

In this case, the exposure wound up calculating to about half an hour at f/5.6, so two minutes into the exposure I moved the aperture ring to f/2.8 and recalculated

These exposures are tough because the light gets dimmer by a few stops as the exposure progresses. I started this exposure at 5:49PM and ended it at 5:59PM.

The Leica M7 is great for these shots: it has an in-finder timer that clocks the exposure as it's going. I can read the timer from a foot behind the camera. This exposure ran a total of 726 seconds, as read from the M7.

Tech details.

 

Red Toilets

Red Toilets.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 90mm f/2.8 Tele (Germany, 1987), 39mm 85C filter, f/4 at 1/90, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Tech details.

 

Arco

Grumpy's Arco. enlarge.    top.

Leica M7, Leica 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, 39mm 81A filter, f/9.5 at 1/125, Fuji Velvia 50 shot in RealRaw EX-S/EX-R. Yes, the clearing storm and front light really made itlook like this. Tech details.

 

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Ken

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