This is one of those “photograph the thing you did not go for” photographs, seen while mostly focusing on an entirely different subject. I was in Death Valley partly because I go there every year at about this time, and partly to photograph the rare reappearance of Lake Manly. (This lake reformed following heavy rains in the desert starting late last summer.) On this morning I went to a point high above the valley to photograph the broad setting of the lake and to use long lenses to isolate details. But the lake is nowhere in this photograph…
… because this scene was in the opposite direction! I arrived well before sunrise, and while I waited for some of that sun to arrive in the valley the horizon to the east put on a spectacular show. Obviously the pre-dawn sky was impressive with its intense and varied colors. But the vast area visible from this point produced beautiful atmospheric recession over the layered ridges stretching into the far distance.
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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