Moonlight at the Racetrack Photo

Photographer’s Note

Peter Boehringer and I had a mini-TE meeting in Death Valley last month. The full moon enabled us to take nighttime shots of the famous Racetrack, where rocks mysteriously move across a dry lakebed in a high valley that branches off from Death Valley. There seem to be two competing theories about how this movement happens. One theory is that when it rains and the Racetrack becomes very slippery, wind alone is enough to push the rocks. Another theory is that occasionally, it rains enough that a few inches (maybe 10 cm) of water collect on the lakebed, and it may then freeze. (It can be cold, as Peter and I learned, since the Racetrack is at about 3700 feet, or 1130 m, elevation.) When the rocks become locked into a sheet of ice, the wind can push the entire sheet and drag the rocks along. You can read about such things at these web sites:

Information written for the general public

An abstract of a more technical scientific paper

This shot is lit entirely by moonlight. It's a 3-4 minute exposure at f9, ISO 100.

The rock in the picture is a little bigger than a basketball, as I recall. They vary from not much bigger than a grapefruit, up to the size of two watermelons.

robertosalguero, crhieatt, Evolution, Floydian, pboehringer, Cormac, euryan, ronners, I_WanderingSoul, eversmile has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

crhieatt (5145) 2008-04-07 1:06

Ken,
Beautifully composed low light image, which still has plenty of shine about it. Very pleasing.
Regards
Colin

ML1905 (0) 2008-04-07 1:24

Hi,
first I thought the photo is a bit too dark, but then I noticed it's actually made in the moonlight. Nice photo, simple composition (which is positive) and nice long shadow.
Regards,
Matej.

Floydian (30970) 2008-04-07 6:37

Hi Ken,
I have seen Peter his pictures which were very good. Yours is much darker without magic light, but what i like here is the long shadow of the rock and the star trails in the sky, a nice though important detail....i like that a lot.
Regards, Henk

pboehringer (770) 2008-04-07 7:10

Ken,
your image evoks strong memories! The Racetrak itself is quite an unique experience, but with the full moon light on it and a couple of twinking stars in the background providing a phantasmagorical image is almost to much.
We have to go back to this place next year. I got some additional inspirations how to explore it photographically, besides that I would like to improve some compositions.
Peter

Cormac (26455) 2008-04-07 8:25

Wow, very eeire and moody shot! It is a fantastic piece of work, especially considering that it was taken at night, by moonlight. Great texture and of course the rock and it's track is quite unusual. From all these theories I'm guessing that no one has ever actually seen one of these rocks moving, only their tracks? Great shot and a big thank you for bringing this area to our attention.

euryan (8351) 2008-04-07 11:27

Perfectly composed with the shadow of the rock from the moonlight balancing the photo. I think the moonlight shot is very creative and appropriate way to capture these mysterious rocks. Good note.
Regards,
Ryan

robertosalguero (110) 2008-04-08 0:47

Hello Ken,

It sound like you and Peter had an awesome time in this place. The views are breathtaking here and the moving rocks make for an interesting subject to photograph. This image is very good. The rock appear to move towards the lens creating this track behind it. Very nice light and colours. Thanks Ken.

Roberto

Polonaise (5638) 2008-04-10 13:45

It's one of these never explained phenomenons...
Here, on Te - we have a whole bunch of never explained mysteries..
dead rabbit...
445 points for a total mediocrity and 6 or 10 points for a masterpiece ????
Photos of Brugge, canals in Belgium, sunsets over the ocean, orange monks and faces of India ...
And the list goes on and on...
Why we, the outstanding and the extremely talented photographers... Why we should try to explain this stuff... Eh ?

My proposition is:
Enjoy this photo immensely, folks...
Because it's worthy of your attention...
It's a good, photographic work, dear friends and it's not...
And I repeat: It is not (!!!) a visual proof od space aliens visiting our mother earth... (not this week - anyway !).

Give us those little monsters of your, Ken.
Don't spare us...
We can take handle it...

love

g.

donluicu (23927) 2008-04-21 9:46

wow
can you imagine this with a ten minutes (or more) exposure!!!

amazing

congrats

I_WanderingSoul (652) 2008-11-22 0:30

Hi Ken,
Interesting theory!nice perspective and you have managed the light well.
Seems like a long trail behind the rock. I am amazed it moved so much!!
Thank you for sharing such great photo and very useful note.
Neelima.

eversmile (6439) 2008-11-22 1:03

Hi Ken

It's mysterious, like a dinosaur skeleton, and the idea of moving rocks, when we do not have any explanation, seems so unrealistic and magical! Your note is worth the reading. Your POV offers an excellent perpective and I admire the sharp vision on this desolated landscape in the middle of which, the isolated rock with the long trails behind, looks impressive.
Well done!
Regards
Marine