Continuing with this week’s experiment in releasing multiple photographs in a single post, this set includes four photographs from Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park.
Cliffs and Hills, Fruita District. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 20, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Hills and sandstone cliffs above the Fruita District in evening light, Capitol Reef National Park
On our first evening in Capitol Reef, where we stated at the campground at Fruita, we had this beautiful though momentary spectacular light late in the day, as the lowering sun managed to shine through openings in clouds to the west.
Gully, Red Rock Desert. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A gully begins to cut into the red rock surface of desert terrain
This was a tricky morning for photography. At dawn there was some beautiful light making its way through breaks in a developing cloud cover. However, shortly after dawn those clouds increased and began to turn the morning gray. Shooting can be a challenge in such light, though it works better for some subjects than others — it can help when the soft, filtered light fills in the shadows, and sometimes the subdued light can enhance the saturation of some colors. This small canyon is west of the main areas of Capitol Reef, where it cuts deeply into the tilting plateau areas.
Juniper, Red Rock Canyon. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
We spent an evening exploring some of the washes and canyons along the west side of Capitol Reef National Park, and by the time we got deep into this canyon the light was coming from low in the sky, creating conditions of very soft light in the bottom of the canyon. Here a small tree stands in front of rocks with interesting shapes and hollows.
Autumn Cottonwood, Red Gully. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 21, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Brilliant yellow autumn cottonwood tree foliage against a red earth hill and gully
This photograph was also made on the cloudy morning mentioned above. When we first realized that we had lost the sun, we started out by heading straight to a nearby grove of cottonwood trees, whose colors can stand out nicely in such light. (In some ways, the colors can look better in this light, as the still glow but they don’t pick up the white highlights of direct sun.) The color palette here is quite varied, though not unexpected for this area — with the dark shape of the tree trunks, the bright yellow leaves, a few green leaves at the bottom of the trees, the dusty greens of the smaller plants, and the red/pink coloration of the gully.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.