We had arrived to Death Valley National Park at a time when they were having record breaking temperatures. All of the routes that we wanted to take were closed off, or we were told not to go without at least few days worth of food. We decided to go on a few trips anyway - but thats a different story. This view is on our way out of Death Valley National Park, looking at the Panamint Mountain Ranges - which is the main mountain range that surrounds the Death Valley, and is the reason for the weird geo climatic nature of Death Valley. It was boiling hot, and we were a little relieved to leave, with our next destination being the cool and serene Mono Lake. As you start to drive away from Death Valley, the temperature winds down, and the altitude goes up, and the roads angle up, little by little. As you drive, the view in the rear view mirror starts to shape, and you almost want to turn around and drive back, because the view of the Panamint Ranges from the top is so much more majestic.
When we first started on this road trip, I already had an idea that I would get many frames like this. A wide angle picture of the road conjures up romantic ideas of what a road trip must/will be like, and is the idea I guess most people have in mind. This is a perspective that many movies, films and photographers use, because I think it gets you up close to the road. I later learned that this style of photography with this perspective is called the vanishing point, and it was pioneered in the 1960s by photographers like Winograd, and other travelling photographers, who discovered the open roads of America, and I guess this style appealed to them. Majority of the images I've seen of open roads that gloried road trips resembled images like this - so this, in fact, is an homage to all those photographers.
