Clouds reflected in floodwater on the salt flats of Badwater Basin, the Panamint Range beyond, Death Valley.

Fallen Sky

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California

Second day of trying to make something work down here. The water changed it — a flooded basin stops being ground and becomes a mirror, and once the sky is underneath you as well as above you the whole thing goes abstract. The mountains end up as the only element still reading as itself. Everything else in the frame is cloud, twice over.

Nikon Z 7_2 · NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S · 57mm · f/13 · 1/3 · ISO 31

February 15, 2026

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