death valley Archives

October 8, 2013

beauty, f164, journal, musings, Nature, travel, video

Day 25 – The Great Fall PHOTOGRAPHICS Road Trip Diary.

We are on the road for a month of Fall color. Not as long as the great 3 month winter tour, but no less epic for that. This time it’s yours truly Gavin Seim, my wife Sondra, our 3 kids, my brother and co-producer Nathan and his wife Allie. Yea, that means two cars and a lot of gas to pay for. So this trip has to be really good.

We’re filming the new PHOTOGRAPHICS Miniseries, making new pictorials and Super Camping around the west. (FYI you can check out our camping resource guide here). We’ve got 4×5 film, a cinema camera and the open road. We’ll bring you the play by play right here. You can also check out our travel map. Bring it on! Gav

Day 17-25 – Epic Hiking, Climbing Rock, and Death Camp

We’ve been on the move. Some very nice days in Utah. We were up as high as Ten Thousand feet near Cedar Breaks and down to Zion and one of the most amazing campsites ever. I finally got an image that did our secret view justice. Stay tuned for that. Nathan and I even hiked the Subway. 8 miles of grueling labor but the stunning scenery was more than an ample reward. The goods and footage are coming soon from that effort.

Nest we headed down through Vegas. We stayed most of the next day, but we didn’t touch the slots. We ran errands and did some rock climbing with a guy we met while looking around REI. It was really cool and we geared up a bit so we can climb on our own.

Next up was Death Valley. We camped on the ruins of an old trailer park on some BLM land just outside the park. Since it was so close we affectionately called it death camp. Desolation abounds, but so do interesting things. We spent a couple days there and now we’re moving on to Yosemite as we come into the final week on the road. Photographics is coming out beautifully and I have a selection of grand images that will make this trip well worth the effort.

Sondra Seim and kids — Sondra and the kids with me at sunset in Death valley. It’s a desolate place, but there is much beauty here.

We went climbing with an off duty promoted we met at REI. That promoted us to go out and buy some gear of out own. Good times. — We went climbing with an off duty Policeman we met at REI. That prompted us to go out and buy some gear of our own. Good times.

Zion hike, subway — Nathan rolling some stunning footage during a long hike. What a beautiful area.

Gavin Seim Shoes Tree — The shoe tree along US 50 in Utah. Apparently it’s a thing.

Gavin Seim truck — The great new sign on the tailgate. Just so people know who we are. 😉

Cedar Breaks Camping — Camped at 10,500 ft near Cedar Breaks. Neat area, but it was a bit cooler.

Day 8-16 The Wild Wandering Color: It’s been a good week. We’ve moved from Idaho, to Utah, to Nevada and Back to Utah. The color has been soothing to the busy mind and the filming we’ve been able to do in these locations is nothing short of stunning. We’ve pulled hours of footage in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

We’re catching up on email and supplies and then we’ll head into Cedar Breaks for some new views. After that, off to Zion, then down through Vegas to swing up to Death Valley and Yosemite NP. We’re about halfway through and the results are looking good.

here's a fun outtake from the filming we were doing up in the hills. Sometimes you can't help yourself. — Here’s a fun outtake from the filming we were doing up in the hills. Sometimes you can’t help yourself. You can pre-order the film here.

The secret is for the parent not to enter a situation whereby the children can see the playground from the car window. Once this happens the parent has few options for escape.

Nathan working hard as we film up on the Nebo loop.

We found wild Ephedra Viridis which makes a great tea. The kids were having a blast.

A free camp up in Great Basin National park. A little hidden gem in Nevada that's quite stunning. — A free camp up in Great Basin National park. A little hidden gem in Nevada that’s quite stunning.

Day 6 – 8. Braking Bad: We we made it down into Utah and camped at a favorite spot up by Ogden. You can see it on the maps.

Then we headed down to Salt lake area. Now along the way I realized that something as seriously wrong with the brakes on the camper. It was barely grabbing and that’s not a good feeling on those steep Utah hills. We parked at the Cabelas lot in Lehi and tore into them.

It’s taken us a few days of running for parts, but being in a big city helped. It was shot, drums scoured, magnets worn to wire. We totally replaced the entire brake system on all 4 tires and should be ready to roll in the morning with beautiful grippy brakes.

While in town I picked up some other parts for the Super Camper and ran some errands, including a trip to Picture Line in Salt Lake where I dropped them a copy of the EXposed workshop to consider carrying in the store.

We also just released a brand new image from Idaho. Check it out. Tomorrow we move on and see what the open road brings.

Side 1 torn down. It's not as hard as it look. Replaced the entire system for about $400. We're talking backing plates, drums and all. — Side 1 torn down. It’s not as hard as it look. Replaced the entire system for about $400. We’re talking backing plates, drums and all.

Day 2-5 – It’s been a great ride already. We covered a good deal of miles and made it into far Idaho (from where I live, that’s SE Idaho). We’ll head down into Utah soon. We have two vehicles in our little caravan and we have been roaming all over. We left the interstate and found some Fall color in the Idaho highlands. We went up to Craters of The Moon monument and the stunning desolation that was there. Gavin even nearly got arrested in an encounter where he filmed a traffic stop and would not back down. It actually got a lot of news coverage. Some agree, some do not. But we can all agree that there’s nothing like a great American road trip.

We have have camped out in WalMart lots for the first few nights, but now we're fining the color. This stunning free campspot up by Bigwood river in ID gave us some great views and we pulled form neat footage for PHOTOGRAPHICS. — We have camped out in WalMart lots for the first few nights, but now we’re finding the color. This stunning free camp spot up by Big Wood River in South Idaho gave us some great views and we pulled some neat footage for PHOTOGRAPHICS.

Stunning textural lava flows at Craters of The Moon.

We drove up to Creators of the Moon National Monument. It was truly a grand piece of barren desolation. But due to our lovley goverment shitting down it was closed. We managed to go back down the road and walk in from a pullout. Got some good visuals. — We drove up to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It was truly a grand piece of barren desolation. But due to our lovely government shutting down it was closed. We managed to go back down the road and walk in from a pullout. Got some good visuals.

Day 1

Loaded and ready. We did not hot the road tille about 6PM, but we drove none the less making it to a wal mart parking lot on Pendleton Oregon the first night. The secenmey will get better ;) — Loaded and ready on 10/7/11. We did not hit the road until about 6PM, but we drove none the less, making it to a Walmart parking lot in Pendleton, Oregon the first night. The scenery will get better 😉

March 5, 2011

f164, Fine Art, Nature, silver, technique

Entrance to Death Valley.

This is one of those photographs that I overlooked for awhile. It’s not earth shattering and it may never be seen as one of my best, but the more I look at it the more it tells a story. The harsh afternoon sun, the heat waves fading into the distance. The approaching car, escaping from the clutches of the tortured hills.

The long line of the road leads my eye in and then it curves away. I know the place beyond is dry and barren. At least I think I know. But at the same time, my sense of adventure wants to go there anyways. It senses there’s beauty (and perhaps water) just over those mountains.

For Photographers. How it was made…