Badwater Basin and Milky Way (Death Valley N.P.)

I made sure to spend a full evening within the Badwater Basin in my recent trip to Death Valley NP. I never had captured the Milky Way at this location before, so during my planning of this image, I was a little nervous thinking about hanging out in this wide open, gigantic desolate area throughout the middle of the night, hoping that my passion to capture an epic image, wouldn’t create some sort of problem of getting lost, hurt or something even crazier (my imagination really started getting away from me the day before). However, my time within the darkness of Badwater Basin, photographing the Milky Way, was one of my most interesting and wonderful times I’ve ever experienced. So quiet and calm, so isolated and dark, yet so blissful and beautiful as the blanket of stars twinkled over my head. The absolute of nothing around me, forced my thoughts deeply inward, giving me an opportunity to reflect on the past … to dream toward the future … and to stand strong in the presence and know this is where I was suppose to be. Right there, right at that moment. It was peaceful that night to get lost within the patterns, while the stars and milky way let me float within its ancient energy and endless depth.