Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brighltly colored dusk clouds above the snow-capped Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

This year I made my first photography foray back to Death Valley in mid-January. From my perspective, the season for this place lasts from about November until the first few weeks of April in a typical year, the period when the temperatures range between cold-to-comfortable and not-quite-yet-unbearably hot. My favorite time to go is when it is still truly winter, and especially at times where few others are there. I timed this trip correctly for the winter weather, but I neglected to consider that my trip crossed into a three-day weekend — and there were crowds. It took me longer than expected to settle into a campsite, and by the time I was able to head out for photography it was later than I had planned.

I decided to head toward a nearby area that I now pretty well, saving more distant explorations for the following days. I went to an area where I had an unobstructed view of the Panamint Range (one of those place I would soon visit). In winter, these “desert mountains” are often quite wintry, and during this visit they were covered in snow. I made this photograph, with the mountains already becoming dark, as the last brilliant light colored the western sky.

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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.

Morning Clouds, Salt Playa. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter dawn clouds over Death Valley and the Panamint Mountains, reflected in seepage streams on the salt playa.

Sometimes landscape photograph is almost easy and beautiful conditions, spectacular light, and wonderful subjects just seem to appear. It is a joy when it happens — and I think that when we imagine going into the field to photograph it is these conditions that we think of. The truth is more complex and often less exciting. There is the matter of travel to get from subject to subject. The best light and conditions are typically somewhat short-lived. It is fairly typical to spend many hours not photographing, perhaps waiting for light, traveling to a new location, or trying to figure out the best options. And sometimes the conditions don’t really cooperate.

I have understood this for a long time, but it was many years ago in Death Valley when the idea crystalized for me. On a weeklong shoot that had me traveling every day, I recall waking up one morning and realizing how much work was involved. And, yes, I got up, headed out, and found more wonderful subjects. On my recent mid-January visit the challenges were bigger than usual — often heavy overcast, atmospheric haze made it difficult to find what I was looking for. Even so, with patience and persistence I found myself in beautiful conditions more than once, as I did on this morning when clouds became transparent and then dissipated as the sun ruse over the salt playa.

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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 | 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.

Dawn Clouds, Panamint Range. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn clouds above the Panamint Range and Death Valley.

On the final morning of a typical Death Valley visit, I get up well before dawn and squeeze in one more “shoot” before leaving. It typically is not too far from where I’m staying since my early wake-up call usually means that I can’t break camp before heading off to photography, and I know that I’ll need to head back, perhaps grab something to eat, and pack up before starting the long drive home. I was camped near Furnace Creek this time, so I selected a spot at the edge of the salt playa not too far from there.

I was up in darkness and it was still dark when I arrived at my location. I sat in my vehicle for a few minutes, and as the first faint light arrived I could see that much of the sky was overcast. This was not encouraging, but I finally decided to load up and walk out across the gravel fan and to the playa. If something was going to happen with the light I had to be in position — no waiting to find out! A short time later I was in position, and the light still wasn’t quite remarkable. But as the first faint sunrise light, filtered by clouds to the east, touched the face of the Panamint range it colored the thinning clouds and created subtle light on the face of the mountains.

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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 | 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.