At The Edge Of The Dunes, EVening

At The Edge Of The Dunes, Evening
Evening light on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

At The Edge Of The Dunes, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Much of Death Valley consists of landscape laid bare, with the earth itself exposed in ways that aren’t seen in other landscapes where forests and meadows dominate. Even the places where sagebrush and similar desert plants grow are only thinly covered, and other than a short period each year these plants have the same colors as the earth.

At first this can seem, well, barren. But after you make a few adjustments this sort of landscape presents remarkable opportunities. Of course, this landscape turns out to be less barren than you first thought. Perhaps a single bush can be more remarkable when it stands alone. But even more important, the quality and color of light become more evident as it works its magic on this ostensibly barren place.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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