By the dune's early light

It's now the middle of April, tax day has come and gone, and I will not be going anywhere near the desert until November. Unless I'm driving in a well air-conditioned vehicle. Nope, that sort of heat and Moiras do not mix well; I'd be a greasy spot on the ground.

But I still have images to process from the trip to Death Valley (not too many - I'm getting there) before it got too hot. The sand dunes were definitely the highlight of the trip, although arduous; I will never forget tramping up and down those slopes, then standing on the crest of a dune at dawn, listening to the wind.

Here are a few more Mesquite Dunes pics:

This was taken right at sunrise to get that rich, low light.

I really enjoyed how the rising sun turned the sunward slope into burnished gold, while the shadowed slope gave up so much detail.

Even once the sun was up, the wind patterns on the sand were still fascinating.

And just as a little bonus, here's another image. If you leave Death Valley via Daylight Pass, just after you cross into Nevada there's a little ghost town called Rhyolite. There's not much to see: a couple of fenced-off buildings, some abandoned machinery and a fenced-off boxcar. But if you drive south of town, back towards the highway, on a very rough track, you come to the long-disused cemetery. I found this place to be very humbling and moving, because there's not much to see there, either. There are a few more recent graves that are recognizably (relatively) modern and well-marked, and there's a bronze plaque dedicated to the memory of those who pioneered mining in the Mojave. Touchingly, some of the graves had flowers left there (presumably by descendants still living in the area). But as for the rest... The cemetery is separated from the rest of the great Mojave desert by nothing more than a bit of wire and a few fence posts, and the few, stark reminders of these people's lives are at best ephemeral.

A lesson in humility: this weathered, decaying wood is the only sign that a human being once lived and worked in the Mojave.

"I met a traveller from an antique land..."

Patience, priorities, and perspectives

Well, I did promise Random Philosophical Utterances from time to time. If ever a post earned the RPU sobriquet, it's this one.

In the past four weeks or so, I'm sure everyone in the western world has seen the news reports and watched the horrifying videos in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear breach in Japan. Most of us can't even begin to imagine what those poor people have gone through, are still dealing with, and will have to face for many years to come. The outpouring of support and sympathy has been worldwide; most folks seem to realize that there, but for the grace of god, go we.

But apparently not everyone.

It just so happens that many of the big camera makers are Japanese, and they have all been impacted by the disaster. They have been very up front and honest about it, and have put out updates on their status as they become available, asking for our patience and understanding. So imagine my reaction when the ugly side of humanity reared its inevitable head.

One of the photography email lists I subscribe to had a post a few days ago from someone in New York. This person was looking for two new high-end Canon camera bodies - it doesn't matter what brand we're talking about, all the companies are in the same boat - and wanted them in the proverbial New York minute. After calling around the stores in NY, none were available. So this person posted to the list wanting to know what was up with Canon as they couldn't get what they wanted.

By the time I finished biting my tongue someone else had already replied, and I did likewise. We commented that perhaps this person might have seen the news lately...? I honestly thought that would be the end of it. But no. The original poster came back and said they were perfectly well aware of the situation in Japan, thank you very much; they just wanted to know what was going on in terms of getting their oh-so-important new gear.

More tongue biting. More people responded. Had they thought of buying used? I posted another (very restrained, I swear) reply and pointed out some of the difficulties these companies and their people are facing. I also pointed out that it took me no more than about 20 seconds to find the page on Nikon's site (since I shoot Nikon) where they're posting updates for all the world to see (actually it took less than 10 seconds). If this person comes back with another snarky reply, I think the gloves may have to come off.

In the meantime, as a public service offering, here are the links to News / update pages on the various camera manufacturers' websites:

Nikon - http://nikon.com/news/index.htm

Canon - http://www.canon.com/news/2011/index.html

Sony - http://www.sony.com/SCA/press.shtml

Olympus - http://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/
* No status update as of today.

Pentax - http://www.pentax.jp/english/news/
* No status update as of today.

If you're looking for gear, don't despair. Someone may have it in stock. If not, consider buying used from a reputable dealer (you'll probably save a lot of money). Or how about renting gear for the dates you absolutely know you'll need it? That's a good way to figure out if you really want what you think you want. If neither of those appeal to you, how about borrowing from a 'tog buddy? We need to help each other out in times of trouble.

As I posted to the person on that email list, keep in mind that folks in Japan are looking for bodies, too. But not camera bodies.