Desert Mountains, Evening Virga. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large band of virga falls from winter clouds above Death Valley mountains.

This was an evening of brief but miraculous atmosphere and light, largely because it was so unexpected. In January I had gone to Death Valley for a few days of winter photography. With the possible exception of the wildflower season, this is my favorite time to visit this landscape. The temperatures are moderate and even cold, crowds often diminish, and passing weather systems can produce beautiful skies. However, I managed to hit four days of fairly “blah” photographic weather — thick, undramatic clouds, opaque atmosphere, and a lot of flat light. What can I say? It happens if you are out there enough!

In such conditions, sometimes persistence can pay off. I kept at it, often in conditions that were not conducive to making special photographs, but that did keep me in the field. And at several points, typically for quite short periods of time, the light did show up. This evening was one of those times. Shortly before it had been overcast and gray, but during the last half hour or so of daylight the sun dropped below a cloud bank and shone through a horizontal gap, lighting mountains, desert and clouds, including one of the largest virga clouds I have seen, with rain falling towards but not reaching the mountains below.

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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.

Erosion Patterns. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Erosion channels line the walls of a Death Valley canyon in morning light.

This spot is a relatively accessible one, not terribly distant from a few other iconic locations, but one where I can usually find near solitude and lovely light early in the morning. When I’m in the general area I often swing though here on at least one morning. As such, I’ve gotten to know details of the place fairly well, to the point that I have a pretty good idea how the light will interact with the formations at various points during the day.

I went there one again during my most recent visit to Death Valley, and even though the light was a bit challenging on this morning — clouds were sometimes in the way — I spent several hours there photographing. This bit of the slope rising from this shallow canyon often presents subtle colors early in the morning, and here I photographed it just as the first direct light was sweeping across its surface.

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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.

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.

Blog | About | 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.

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