I had just arrived in Death Valley on one of my trips there not long before sunset. I was driving north when I saw this wonderful contrast in light between the low lying hills in the foreground and the mountain range in the distance. The light would not last long so I raced against the sun to get my camera ready for this shot. The foreground hills were in the shadow of the mountains to the west and the distant mountains were still being bathed in the light of the low sun. Even though this is Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, that really is snow you see on the distant ridges. I took this photograph with my Olympus OM-3 camera on Kodak Kodachrome 64 film. Photograph by Rick Scott.
Updated: 8 December 2003