Category Archives: Photographs: Death Valley

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Mountains, Last Light

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Desert Mountains, Last Light
Evening light passes across the rugged face of desert mountains, Death Valley National Park

Desert Mountains, Last Light. Death Valley National Park. March 31, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light passes across the rugged face of desert mountains, Death Valley National Park

At the risk of repeating something I have already written several times, scenes like this one have a particular way of deceiving us. This is, in the strict sense of the work, a desert scene, photographed in a place that seems very little perception and where it can be oppressively hot and dry and where sandstorms often blow. From this distance there is little obvious evidence that anything living is within the scene.

However, it is also completely obvious that the scene is full of the evidence of the power of water. While the mountains themselves were not created by water — though if you look back far enough to their sedimentary roots perhaps they were! — they were most certainly shaped by water. The rugged ridges and gullies are clear evidence of the power of water, and even that gradual slope at the bottom of the mountains is an alluvial fan, created over long periods of time as water washed down material eroded from those mountains.

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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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Mountains, Evening Shadows

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Desert Mountains, Evening Shadows
Patterns of rock, evening light, and shadows in rugged desert mountain terrain

Desert Mountains, Evening Shadows. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns of rock, evening light, and shadows in rugged desert mountain terrain

In places along the eastern edge of Death Valley, the color of soils and rocks varies tremendously. In the daytime light the colors are perhaps subtle — tans, reddish, gold, black, and more — but in the early and late (especially, on this side of the valley) light the colors intensify and become more saturated.

After I finished photographing more expansive views taking in the width and length of the portion of the Valley and including the base of the Panamint Mountains, I headed over along this other side of the valley where the final light falls. This scene holds some of the range of rock color, along with the rugged landscape of overlapping hills and gullies.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Strata and Folds, Evening

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Strata and Folds, Evening
Desert terrain of contorted and folded strata

Strata and Folds, Evening. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert terrain of contorted and folded strata

It has been well over a year since I made this photograph, but I remember the evening well. I had arrived in Death Valley earlier in the day, by way of a detour through the Los Angeles area, found a place to camp, and was now starting several days of intensive photography in the area. In the evening I headed south in the park to a particular knoll that I have photographed from before, with the idea of photographing a particular subject in some light that I had in mind.

I found and photographed that subject, though conditions weren’t quite what I expected. A combination of evening haze and strong winds presented some challenges — and I’ll need to return to the spot to make that photograph that I originally envisioned. However, from this elevated position there was a spectacular view of arid and rugged desert terrain in the opposite direction, so as the light on my original subject faded I turned my attention in this direction. There are many things to think about and say about terrain like this, but I’ll mention one thing. When we look at such a place our first impression is of the rugged dryness. But when we look again we see evidence of water everywhere in such a landscape — in those valleys, and in the gullies tracing twisting lines down the faces of the formations.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Barren Slopes

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Barren Slopes
Boulders scattered across the slopes of a rocky desert landscape

Barren Slopes. Death Valley National Park, California. March 31. 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boulders scattered across the slopes of a rocky desert landscape

This bit of landscape is a familiar one for me. An odd hill stands in the middle of mostly level playa and near drifting sand — the hill is composed of a different and darker material and is in other ways not like the surroundings. A number of years ago I discovered that place provides some panoramic views of surrounding terrain that stretch off into the distance, and I often go there early in the morning or in the evening to photograph when conditions seem right.

On this evening I did go there, but decided to wander along its flank rather than go to the top. At the base of the western slopes the rugged and rocky terrain faced the sunset sky, muted by high clouds, and presented a series of shallow valleys leading off into the distance, punctuated by boulders.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.