Category Archives: Photographs: Desert

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

Sand Storm, Dunes

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Sand Storm, Daunes
A landscape of wind-blown sand dunes disappears into the distance during a desert sand storm.

Sand Storm, Dunes. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A landscape of wind-blown sand dunes disappears into the distance during a desert sand storm.

The landscapes of Death Valley National Park sometimes can seem almost alien. There are places where there is little or no apparent vegetation and the scene appears lifeless. While the truth about sand dunes is more complicated — there’s actually quite a bit of life there — when a big sand storm comes up these places look and feel like something from another world, one that is not particularly friendly to humans carrying cameras!

Recently someone asked if I worry about my equipment in these conditions. The answer is yes, but there are ways to manage the risks and make photographs. In this case I worked with a longer lens and positioned myself upwind of the dunes with the wind more or less at my back. As a result, even though my subject was a scene full of blowing sand, there was little sand where I stood, and it was coming from behind me.

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

Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains

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Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains
Sunrise light highlights sand dunes against a backdrop of desert mountains.

Sunrise Dunes, Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Sunrise light highlights sand dunes against a backdrop of desert mountains.

Some of my recent Death Valley dunes photographs have featured a wild wind and sand storm — a very dramatic scene that was not easy to photograph. Here I switch to the opposite mood in the dunes, the quiet moment when the first sunrise light arrives. The light changes with incredible speed at this time of day, going from the soft blue tones of pre-sunrise to bright and harsh daytime colors in moments. I made this photograph during the first direct light, when distant mountains were still in shadows.

It is hard to convey the experience of the dunes at this moment. The landscape is immense and silent. Sometimes it feels like there is a dissonance between the profound quiet and stillness and the rapidity of the visual changes. We continued to photograph a bit longer, then the magical early light was gone.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Desert Canyon, Morning Light

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Desert Canyon, Morning Light
Soft morning light on eroded landscape in a desert canyon.

Desert Canyon, Morning Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Soft morning light on eroded landscape in a desert canyon.

There are places and subjects that I can return to many times and still find new ways to see them. This photograph comes from one of those places, one that I remember thinking I was “done with” a long time ago,. But every time I return I discover something that I missed before. For years I have photographed from the little valley that is the subject here… but only recently realized that it could serve as the subject as well as a camera position.

This photograph, with its subtle forms and colors, is also more or less the result of an accident. I ended up at this camera position for the first time a few months ago when I went there to photograph something entirely different. Finishing with that other subject I turned around and saw this one, on that morning softened by atmospheric haze and backlight.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Desert Mountains, Morning Storm

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Desert Mountains, Morning Storm
A morning storm drops snow and rain on desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains, Morning Storm. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A morning storm drops snow and rain on desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

In addition to being an example of beautiful morning light, this photograph is a reminder about an important principle of landscape photography. I’ll get to that point in a moment. I made the photograph on our final morning in Death Valley before packing and starting home. Things didn’t look promising when I got up before dawn — it was overcast and there was a small chance of rain. I headed out into the Valley to photograph where, indeed, it was cloudy and I did get rained on. But for a brief moment this beautiful light appeared over distant mountains.

The landscape photography principle? There might be more than one, now that I think about it. The first is that if something special happens and you are not out there, you aren’t going to photograph it. So even on days when the prospects seem unpromising, you go. It helps to remember that not all days are astonishingly beautiful, and you’ll have to deal with the less-amazing days if you expect to be there for the miracles of light. Another principle? The most interesting light often arrives in the least promising situations — for example, on a gray, cloudy morning when beams of light unexpectedly break through a gap in the clouds and light up desert peaks against that dark, dramatic background.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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