(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

On our last morning in Death Valley, we headed to the Badwater Basin area for sunrise. Badwater has a few spring fed springs, and miles of salt flats.

For me, there were two scenes to photograph – the first was the amazing sunrise with the mountains, the second was the salt flats. The repeated freezing and thawing of the ground has created incredible patterns in the salt.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

One the sun rose, I spent some time photographing the salt formations. There were endless repetitions of hexagonal shapes.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here’s a ground level view of salt formations. The crystal structure really reminded me of the structure of a coral reef.

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins