Category Archives: Photographs: Desert

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

Canyon Narrows Light

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Canyon Narrows Light, Death Valley
“Canyon Narrows Light” — Soft, filtered light illuminates the walls of a Death Valley slot canyon.

Desert canyon light is remarkable. A canyon like this one is a huge contrast with the world outside — the intense, harsh desert light gives way to soft, gentle light and shade. The temperature drops. The color of the ight changes, too. Deep in the canyon it often shifts to ward blue, especially when the canyon walls are black or gray. There are also changes and contrasts where different softs of light come together — as in this photograph where the deeply shaded blue tones contrast with the warmer tones of the higher walls.

I walked quickly to get to these narrows, but once I arrived I stopped, took out my tripod, attached my camera, and ambled slowly while searching for photographs. New possibilities appeared at every bend in the canyon, and my progress stalled to a near standstill as I stopped every few feet to look at a new composition.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Roadrunner

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Roadrunner, Death Valley
“Roadrunner” — A greater roadrunner, Death Valley National Park.

After more than two-and-a-half decades of visiting Death Valley National Park, you would think that I’d have see quite a few of these birds. But, no, this is the first time I have encountered a roadrunner in the park. Actually, there were two. I arrived at my campsite and was getting my gear out when a couple of them showed up to investigate my stuff.

I was surprised by how close they came. I would have assumed, especially having never run into them here before, that they would have been more shy and cautious. In any case, I grabbed one of my cameras, put a long lens on it, and managed to squeeze off a few photographs before the birds decided to go investigate someone else’s campsite.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Badlands, In Shadow

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Badlands, In Shadow, Death Valley
“Badlands, In Shadow” — Badlands formations in early morning shadows, Death Valley.

This is another is a series of photographs I made one morning at Zabriskie Point during my late February visit to Death Valley National Park. Previously I mentioned that I rarely photograph at this spot any more — after a couple of decades it takes some pretty special conditions to persuade me to join the crowd there. I stopped when pre-dawn clouds suggested the potential for a very colorful sunrise. Alas, that did not happen, but I did get some interesting light before the direct sunlight came to the formations at Zabriskie.

I’m a big fan of photographing in subdued light and especially in shade and when reflected light fills in the shadows. That is what we see here. The morning sunlight was striking nearby subjects, but it had not yet penetrated down into this little valley. The light produced a kind of soft glow and it picked up colors from the sky and reflected light from nearby prominences that were in the sun. Once again, the Death Valley landscape is a sort of canvas that is colored by light.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Fractal Landscape

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Fractal Landscape, Death Valley National Park
“Fractal Landscape” — A Death Valley landscape of layers of eroded ridges.

This view has intrigued me for years. At one popular Death Valley National Park location, one comes upon it quickly and often briefly. Because it is the coda of visits to this area that has many other attractions, it is easy to overlook it. It is harder to photograph than it seems that it should be — there are some compositional challenges, and unless the light is right the scene can have very low contrast and tricky colors.

The variety of pattens and details in the scene is remarkable. The first four ridges are low and consist of soft, easily eroded material. The more distant ridge is far away, across an intervening valley, and its details are almost always muted by haze. The foreground formations are deeply eroded and cut by gullies — which might seem like an odd thing at first when you consider that you are in an extremely hot and arid desert.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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