Colorful Strata. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Colorful badlands strata in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

This subject may look familiar if you have been following my posts recently. It is a portrait-orientation composition of a feature that I also photographed in landscape orientation. (You might also think it looks a lot like a different iconic feature in Death Valley — it does, but it is not the thing you may be thinking of.) This is a sort of photograph that I make frequently, a small “excerpt” of a much larger landscape scene, photographed with a long focal length lens. The just-arrived early morning light warmed the colors a bit and brought out the pink and blue tones of the layers.

Photographing these kinds of desert colors can be challenging They are fascinating, but they are also often quite subtle, at least to my eye. In all but the best light they seem almost too faint to come through in a photograph. Some photographers compensate by significantly enhancing the intensity of the colors, but the result rarely appeals to me. Some particular qualities of the light made it work this time. Because it was shortly after dawn the light retained a warmer coloration. Some high, thin clouds muted and softened the light a bit. The band of darker material at the bottom contrasts with the lighter tones and with the colors.

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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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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