Cottonwood Trees, Patterned Cliff. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 22, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cottonwood trees with autumn foliage at the base of a patterned sandstone cliff.

I photographed these trees in early evening light, moments after the last bit of direct sun had left his sandstone wall. I was shooting along the Fremont River where it runs through Capitol Reef National Park, not far to the east of the Fruita area. This section of the river is lined by beautiful sandstone walls, with lots of beautiful trees growing int eh relatively moist surroundings of the stream.

This little section of the canyon was especially interesting to me. The transitional light first caught my attention, perhaps, as it changed from being lit by soft, warm sunlight to the cooler tones of canyon shade. The colorful autumn cottonwood trees are always interesting, but the bent shapes of this group was special, and because the trees didn’t grow too closely together the shapes were also more visible. The canyon wall itself is fascinating. The sandstone layer here is thick and consists of relatively smooth rock, against which the various patterns on its surface are exceptionally visible — horizontal lines that might be in the rock itself or remnants of long-ago flow patterns, and the beautiful vertical water patterns. Below this thick layer of solid red rock is a contrasting layer of much lighter rock, cut with angled strata.

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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