Do you want to save time, get to the best places, and learn how to photograph the desert from death valley experts?
If so, this EBOOK is for you.
Although the name "Death Valley" suggests inhospitable desolation, this part of the Mojave Desert is a place of sublime beauty and diverse, dynamic landscapes. With salt flats, sand dunes, colorful badlands, rugged canyons, dramatic mountain peaks, and a wide variety of desert plants, Death Valley National Park has a lot to offer for nature photographers.
Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States. This can make planning a trip to the park feel overwhelming, especially for first-time visitors. With this ebook, we want to help you save time on planning and help you get to some of the park's best spots for photography, all while learning more about this unique desert landscape and how to photograph it.
Desert Paradise is an in-depth, time-saving guide that will help you get the most out of a photography trip to Death Valley National Park. The 263-page PDF ebook includes photo location information, advice on how to photograph desert landscapes, travel information, and many example photographs—all for $29.
“I just returned about a week ago from an incredibly successful and utterly enjoyable camping and photography trip to Death Valley, and the book you guys wrote, ‘Desert Paradise,’ literally made my trip. It allowed me to spend my limited time on a well-planned and coordinated itinerary of epic locations that held the most promise, and for that I am profoundly grateful. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put into the book!”
“I’m writing to share my gratitude for the Death Valley e-book. I visited the park for the first time since 1992 this past Saturday-Tuesday and really benefitted tremendously from your advice. While I read many websites and blogs about photographing Death Valley, and all of them helped in some specific way, your e-book was the ESSENTIAL resource that I found myself turning to time and time again. I kept it on my phone and laptop and would consult it each morning for planning and when I arrived at each site. I’m planning to go back for more time to photograph the park—4 sunsets and 3 sunrises is definitely not enough—and will use your e-book as my guide.”
“Hi Sarah and Ron - I just sent you a donation because I used your Death Valley ebook for planning a trip there earlier this year. The information you provided in the ebook was extremely valuable and it made my trip more successful than it otherwise would have been. Thank you for all the work you put into these resources. I am always inspired by your photographs.”
DESERT PARADISE includes:
Detailed information on 20 primary locations, ranging from classic Death Valley icons to further afield places. Each location section includes sample photos, directions, and GPS coordinates for the parking area. The ebook also includes information for 22 additional locations in and around the park, plus tips for extending your trip by visiting Mono Lake, the Eastern Sierra, and Valley of Fire State Park. (Note: Desert Paradise does not include location information for every location featured in our personal photo portfolios of Death Valley.)
Photography advice specific to Death Valley’s diverse and unusual desert landscapes, including tips on working with desert light and photographing salt flats, playas, sand dunes, badlands, abstractions, black and white scenes, canyons, and plants. We also include a section on gear considerations specific to visiting Death Valley.
Over 120 inspiring and unique photos highlighting the diversity of Death Valley’s landscape. Technical information, including exposure settings, is included for nearly every photo.
Travel information, including lodging and transportation information, seasonal variations, weather, and staying safe—all of which will help you get started with planning your trip.
Seven maps to help orient you to the park and the photo locations, plus suggested itineraries from one day to more than a week.
An extended section on Nature First principles and how to minimize your impact on this sensitive landscape.
Price: $29 for this fully revised and expanded second edition of Desert Paradise.
Desert Paradise is a PDF optimized for viewing on a tablet or phone, with larger font for easy reading, a simple design, detailed bookmarks to help navigate the document, and links to many external resources.
Who will get the most from this ebook?
This ebook will be most helpful to photographers planning their first trip to the park, or photographers who have been to Death Valley before but want to explore beyond Zabriskie Point and Badwater Basin (both of those amazing locations are included in the ebook, too!). The stark, expansive landscapes of Death Valley can be both physically and visually overwhelming. This ebook will help you learn how to photograph these unfamiliar landscapes so you can make the most of your trip to the park. While there are a few accessible and roadside locations in Death Valley, visiting most photo spots will include some walking, often over uneven and rocky terrain.
EXAMPLE PAGES FROM Desert Paradise
Reviews for Desert Paradise
“I just wanted to both of you know how much I appreciated your Death Valley NP e-book. It was the best money I have ever spent on a photo guide and how absolutely invaluable it was on my recent trip. All the information was spot on and made my trip as good as I could have possibly imagined.”
“Just a note to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed your Desert Paradise book. It’s full of great info and is clearly written from lots of first hand experience. Part 1 [about photographing desert landscapes] was worth the price of admission alone. It made my trip to Death Valley much better and I appreciate your years of effort in making this book. Thanks for a great resource!”
“I just returned about a week ago from an incredibly successful and utterly enjoyable camping and photography trip to Death Valley, and the book you guys wrote, ‘Desert Paradise,’ literally made my trip. It allowed me to spend my limited time on a well-planned and coordinated itinerary of epic locations that held the most promise, and for that I am profoundly grateful. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put into the book!”
“I recently visited Death Valley NP for the first time. Prior to my trip I downloaded your ‘Desert Paradise’ ebook to aid in my research. You do outstanding work and your book was an invaluable tool for a first time visitor to the park. Over a long weekend, I was able to make many images that I am quite happy with and that’s due in large part to the guidance your ebook offered.”
“I just purchased your ebook on Death Valley. I’m always looking for a guide to help me plan my photo trips. Even a simple guide from a landscape photographer helps a lot. Your ebooks go beyond a simple guide. You saved me a tremendous amount of planning!!! In the past, I have paid $15 for a simple 25 page ebook to the Moab area. It was worth every penny. Your ebooks are very under-rated and under-priced in my opinion. For the amount of information you provided in the Death Valley book, I would have paid $40-$50. There is no way I could have researched the amount of information on my own. I have been compiling information on my Death Valley trip for the past year. I feel comfortable deleting the entire file and using your ebook.”
“My wife and I just returned from 5 days in Death Valley and found it to be an amazing place for photography. I want to thank you for writing such a terrific guide to the park. Like you, I prefer to avoid man-made things and want to show nature’s beauty in my photos, so your book was perfect for me. Your photos are stunning and your advice and recommendations were incredibly helpful. They helped me look for things that I never would have had I not had your book. I had other photographer’s guide books to Death Valley, but really didn’t need them once I had yours. Thank you again for preparing such a great tool for amateurs like me.”
“We purchased ‘Desert Paradise’ and loved it! We found it very informative and are looking forward to reading the updates. Thanks again so much!”
“I purchased your ‘Desert Paradise’ ebook a few days ago. I could tell by looking at the first few pages it was exactly what I was looking for and I am eager to read the rest of it and plan a trip to the desert.”
“I just discovered your ebook on Death Valley and your blogs. They are wonderful and most informative. Many thanks!”
“‘Desert Paradise’ is such a great book and I used it on my first trip this past spring. I’m looking to go again in the next couple of months, so the timing for your update couldn’t be better.”
“I LOVED ‘Desert Paradise.’ It totally informed our visit to Death Valley last Spring and was so helpful. So, I was delighted to hear that you’ve done an update since we hope to get back next spring.”
We Know Death Valley REALLY Well
Sarah and Ron deep in Death Valley National Park’s backcountry.
Because Death Valley National Park is so big, it is hard for anyone to call themselves an “expert” on the park but we can say that we know this landscape as well as any other photographer working today. Each year, we spend at least a month, and often more, camping and hiking in the park. We have hiked in 74 of the park’s canyons, including repeat visits to many of our favorite spots. We have backpacked across Death Valley’s floor, carrying all of our water, to explore remote areas that might see only a few other visitors each year. We have also extensively explored some of the more popular locations in the park, finding new viewpoints even in heavily visited areas.
The bottom line is that we love this park and we want to share our knowledge with others, especially in terms of how to photograph this special landscape while treating it with respect. Death Valley is a stark, expansive place with many strange landscape features. We help you become familiar with these places before you visit so you are prepared to make the most of your time there. We also teach you about desert light, including how you can actually enjoy photographing on clear, cloudless days. We show you how to look more deeply and see smaller scenes, as well. Death Valley is also the perfect place to work on taking abstract photos of natural subjects and explore the botanical beauty of desert plants. We help you learn to see these subjects and share some insights on how to photograph them.
This ebook will save you a lot of time in planning your trip. We also hope it will help you come to deeply appreciate this landscape, as well.
PHOTOS OF DEATH VALLEY INCLUDED IN DESERT PARADISE
