I just got back from a long roadtrip and one of the places I wanted to visit was Death Valley. Very cool place if you like the outdoors. But, as most of you know, it is also the filming location of several Star Wars and Jedi shots. I so wish I couldve been about 11 or 12 instead of my age now. But alas, im older now and it still was very neat to actually stand on Tatooine, so to speak. After looking at the photo of Artoo headed away, I realized the actual shot was a bit further to my left due to the angle of a few of the peaks in the distance. But, I was still there. I cut and paste Artoo just for the heck of it into my photo. I tried to adjust the color to closer match the actual movie. If any of you ever get the chance to go out there, it is a very neat park to visit. Most folks dont care about going there because of the heat, but its tolerable and a very, very cool place to explore. There are very view people there, so you pretty much have free reign of the place . Just make sure you have a reliable vehicle though. Getting in and out is really hard on your car. The temps range quite a bit too. At the Mos Eisley overlook, it was 84 while down in the valley, it was 118! Also, the one thing to consider is that the dunes are ever changing, and it has been 40 years since the Artoo scene was filmed. So you have to do a little exploring to find the dunes that match the shot as close as possible.
Looks like the Mos Eisley overlook shot was taken from a higher angle with a longer focal length. My shot just isnt high enough and not shallow enough in DOF to match properly. The sandcrawler shot was tough. I dont know if the terrain had changed that much, or in addition to the sandcrawler being a matte painting on glass, did they superimpose the Jawas onto the scene? IDK. Still the spot of the shot though.