Nomeca Hartwell

Badwater

Black and White Photograph, 16" x 11"

Sand Waves

Black and White Photograph, 16" x 11"

Triple Dune

Black and White Photograph, 16" x 11"

Manta Dune

Black and White Photograph, 16" x 11"

Desert Tree

Black and White Photograph,
11" x 16"

Notes on Death Valley

I took a 5 day Charles P. Farmer workshop in Death Valley in March of 2000. We had most unusual weather for that time of year. The roads were flooding and closing down as we raced to get to our motel at Stovepipe! The next night 2" of snow fell up by Scotty's Castle in the north end of the Valley! The dunes  in early morning light was a favorite and frequent subject. Badwater at Sunrise was another spectacular photo shoot. Near the end of our stay I captured the Desert Tree on a side trip to Scotty's Castle- a delightful place to visit and photograph.
I use Scala, Agfa's wonderful black & white slide film. Even though it has an ISO of 200, it is very, very sharp. It lends itself to photographing any Black or White subject matter ( snow, fog, night) and all graphic shapes. Agfa recommends digital printing but direct Type R printing on color paper can yield interesting monochromatic tones.