One benefit of having a seasonal business is that with wedding photography in the bay area, winters are VERY slow, therefore my husband and I try to take at least one long vacation. We stayed on the west coast this year and went on a two week trip up the eastern Sierras with the highlight being Death Valley. I've never been, but have always loved the desert and wasn't disappointed. Death Vally is absolutely huge. Vast and desolate, it's indescribably beautiful. I don't even think pictures do it justice, but I thought I would share a few from our point and shoot. I rarely bring the big cameras on vacation and in this case we backpacked for five days of the trip making it more practical to bring our Panasonic Lumix. LOVE this camera with its Leica lens and wide angle capability! Also the dynamic black and white setting gives great black and white results!