Category Archives: Photographs: Desert

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

Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds

Image Leave a comment
Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds
Clouds float above salt flats and desert mountains in dawn light, Death Valley National Park

Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.Salt Flats, Dawn CloudsSalt Flats, Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds float above salt flats and desert mountains in dawn light, Death Valley National Park.

There is a lot I could write about this photograph and the recent trip on which I made it — I think I could easily write a chapter about it. But I’m going to try to keep it shorter. I photograph in Death Valley National Park during at least one week each year and frequently more often. When it comes to photography, this was one of the more difficult trips I’ve taken to the place. Mainly the weather didn’t cooperate much at all, at least not where I was. A couple of days featured gloomy, low contrast overcast. It even managed to rain one night! I reminded myself that I’ve had many beautiful days in this park, and if you go anywhere enough times you’ll see it when it is at its best… and when it isn’t! I also simply enjoy being in the place, so when photography seemed unlikely I explored: checking out some mine sites high in the mountains, wandering up a few washes I hadn’t visited before, and so on.

I was hopeful that the last morning, when I had an hour or so to photograph before I had to pack up my camp, might just provide some lovely light. Things did not begin in a very promising fashion.I had picked a likely location for dawn photography, but in the pre-dawn twilight I could see that a layer of clouds hung over most of the valley. I went ahead and wandered out onto the salt flats. I made a few early photographs — some of which will likely be worth sharing — but things were looking distinctly unspectacular. However, I did enjoy the utter solitude and silence out in this lonely spot on a winter morning when few people were out and about in the park. But patience paid off eventually, as the clouds began to thin a bit and light angled in above the cloud bank to the east, producing a rather spectacular arc of clouds and color above the salt flats.

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.

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

Panamint Lake

Image Leave a comment
Panamint Lake
Panamint Lake spreads across Panamint Valley following heavy winter rains

Panamint Lake. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Panamint Lake spreads across Panamint Valley following heavy winter rains.

Death Valley National Park visitors who arrive from the west or southwest almost certainly drive through Panamint Valley — whether traversing a good part of its length when driving north from Ridgecrest and Trona arriving after driving across from Owens Valley and US 395. The area was not originally part of the park but was added more recently. Despite being framed by big, rugged mountain ranges on either side, it is more typically a place people drive “through” rather than “to.”

It is also generally a very dry place. But near its upper end there is a typical desert playa… which necessarily implies that the area is periodically flooded during wet periods. This spring I passed through twice on visits that were about a month apart. The first time followed a very wet period and the usually dry playa was covered by a very large, shallow lake… of which there were virtually no traces one month later.

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.

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

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm

Image Leave a comment
Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm
A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset.

This early-April afternoon and evening produced remarkable conditions in Death Valley. I had seen the advance warnings of high winds and sand storms so I was already thinking of the potential conditions beforehand, but late in the day I noted that dust clouds were already visible far to the north. But the wind-driven sand and dust wasn’t the only interesting element — a weather front was also moving through, stacking up spectacular clouds, some of which were managing to drop some rain.

We did a big loop northward along the eastern slopes of the valley, climbing a ways into the Amargosa Range before coming back down to the valley, where the winds continued and dust and sand were blowing everywhere. We stopped in the thick of it, and I thought about a technique I often use in these conditions: photographing with a long lens from inside the vehicle. But that presented two problems: opening a window even a crack quickly let in piles of sand, and the subjects I was interested were in all directions. So I got out, cowering in the leeward side of the vehicle, and photographed as the sand blew, clouds to the west began to thin, and sunset light struck the mountains to my east.

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.

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 Holly, Dry Wash

Image Leave a comment
Desert Holly, Dry Wash
Desert holly plants grow along the curves of a small desert wash

Desert Holly, Dry Wash. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert holly plants grow along the curves of a small desert wash.

Among plants that manage to eke out an existence in dry landscapes, such as that of Death Valley National Park, there seems to be a spectrum of accommodations to dryness. Out near the sharp edge of that bell curve is found the desert holly plant. In some of the locations where I see it, the plant seems to be just about the only thing that is still able to live on the driest and rockiest soils.

The specimens in this photograph are growing along the course of a dry wash, and they probably get a good portion of whatever small amount of water that sustains them during brief periods when water flows following rainstorms. (It had rained heavily during the previous month here… and there was no visible water in this wash.) The plants present a sometimes surprising bit of green in this otherwise arid and bare landscape.

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.

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