Subject: The salt flats of Badwater by moonlight
Exposure: 3 minutes
Processing: Color balance, brightness and contrast adjusted in Adobe Photoshop 6.0
Lens: Nikon 24mm @ f/5.6
Mount: Fixed tripod
Guiding: None
Film: 35mm Fujichrome Provia 400F
Location: Badwater. Death Valley National Park, California
Date: 04/27/02
Comments: Located in the heart of Death Valley between 280-282ft below sea level, Badwater is the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest and driest places on Earth.
The average annual rainfall is just 1.65in/yr and temperatures soar to over 120F on a regular basis during the summer months. Ground temperatures have been measured at over 180F.
It also holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States at 134F which occurred on July 10, 1913. This is just 2 degrees below the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 136F at El Azizia, Libya.
The Panamint Mountains crowned by 11,049ft Telescope Peak can also be seen in the distance.