Category Archives: Photographs: Desert

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

Dead Creosote, Dunes

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Dead Creosote, Dunes
Morning sun on san dunes and skeletal dead creosote plants, Death Valley.

Dead Creosote, Dunes. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun on san dunes and skeletal dead creosote plants, Death Valley.

We tend to think of the landscape and, in particular, the desert landscape as being relatively static. Landscape photographers often hear comments along the lines of, “You have all the time in the world to make a photograph.” While there is some truth to this notion — yes, that mountain is likely to still be there tomorrow — things are not quite that simple, particularly at the beginning and end of the day. While the physical objects in this photograph stand still, the light most certainly does not!

This photograph was, in a sense, the result of a combination of working slowly and working quickly. Soon after arriving in this area of the dunes I saw this clump of dead creosote bushes. I thought they were interesting, but the lighting at that point wasn’t conducive to how I would photograph them. So I made a mental note about the scene and the spot and went to work on other things. A bit later the light was starting to sweep across the tops of the dunes and I turned my attention back to this subject, hoping that the angles would work out correctly to light the plants while the underlying sand remained in shadow. I waited as the light worked its way down the stems of the plants and then made the photograph during the seconds-long window just before the light struck the sand beneath them.

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

Snag and Dunes, Late Afternoon

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Snag and Dunes, Late Afternoon
The bones of a dead bush in sand dunes in late afternoon light, Death Valley National Park.

Snag and Dunes, Late Afternoon. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The bones of a dead bush in sand dunes in late afternoon light, Death Valley National Park.

You might be surprised to hear that, in some ways, I’m not always a gigantic fan of wandering in the sand dunes. In some ways, they seem almost too obvious of a subject for Death Valley photography and, in all honesty, traversing dunes on foot is not exactly an easy process! (My favorite walking in this landscape is in canyons and along washes, where I can pick my own path almost anywhere.) Walking in sand, especially sand blown into the shape of dunes, is not easy — progress can be slow and access to some interesting goals can be almost impossible.

Yet I keep going back. While the dune landscape changes more slowly than you might imagine, it does change from visit to visit, and there are always surprises. The interplay of dune shapes and light provides what seems like an infinity of photographic potential. And there are few experiences quite like standing alone in an isolated section of the dunes on a warm evening as the sun drops toward the western horizon as warm evening colors and shadows arrive.

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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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

Canyon Narrows

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Canyon Narrows
Soft light in the narrows of a Death Valley National Park canyon.

Canyon Narrows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft light in the narrows of a Death Valley National Park canyon.

Canyons are (almost) all about the light. OK, the textures and forms are pretty striking, too, as is the quiet. But the light is really special. In the narrowest sections — such as the “narrows” in this photograph — direct sunlight doesn’t penetrate to the bottom of the canyon much or sometimes at all. The typical ideas about best times for landscape photography can be upended, as the best light often comes to these places when the sun is high enough to shine directly on upper walls and then bounce its way down into the depths of the canyon.

I have recently shared some other photographs from this canyon, made on a recent trip when I camped nearby and was able to enter the canyon more than once and at various times of the day. The other photographs are all in color, and they tend to highlight the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle!) contrasts between warm and cool-colored light. I had to chuckle inwardly a few days ago when a friend suggested that I try monochrome with this subject. I’ve been a black and white photographer since, well, the first time I picked up a camera, and I often think that my visual home is monochrome. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I would want to find a way to produce a photograph of this place in black and white, too.

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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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

Death Valley, Morning Haze

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Death Valley, Morning Haze
Early morning haze obscures distant mountains and valleys, Death Valley National Park.

Death Valley, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning haze obscures distant mountains and valleys, Death Valley National Park.

The truth of the matter is that I’ve become a bit obsessed with this view. I’ve photographed in morning and evening, in warm weather and in the middle of winter. (It gets cold on these ridges, even in Death Valley National Park.) On one occasion I was forced to turn back by snow on the route. I’ve seen utterly glorious light here, and I’ve encountered light so flat and gray that it wasn’t really worth photographing. Sometimes when I visit the park I tell myself that I won’t go here… and then at some point I almost inevitably end up making the trip.

Most often I’m completely alone here, though on a few occasions I’ve encountered one or two others. This place, and others like it, are remarkable at any time, but even more so when I experience them in solitude. Those mountains in the hazy distance are perhaps 30 to 40 miles away. Behind me the view stretches all the way to the snow-covered Sierra, and off to my left lie peaks well beyond the Nevada border. And everywhere in this vast expanse the landscape is laid bare, raw and visible.

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 | 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.