Category Archives: Photographs: The Southwest

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone Canyon Walls and Brush

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Sandstone Canyon Walls and Brush - Brush including some autumn foliage stands against a bright red sandstone cliff, Capitol Reef National Park
Brush including some autumn foliage stands against a bright red sandstone cliff, Capitol Reef National Park

Sandstone Canyon Walls and Brush. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Forest, Utah. October 7, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brush including some autumn foliage stands against a bright red sandstone cliff, Capitol Reef National Park

This area was yet another surprise – though perhaps only because I’m a California guy still very much in the early stages of discovering the landscape of Utah. We had driven a long route down a good part of the length of Capitol Reef National Park, climbed over the higher portion of the north-south ridge, and were heading back to our lodgings some distance away. As we drove across this new (to us!) landscape we descended into a long, narrow canyon that had some of the most beautiful red rock walls I had yet seen.

Such canyons provide a wealth of photographic opportunities and require some slightly different thinking about timing and about light. In so many situations, we look for the “good light” at the edges of the day, in the very early morning and then again in the evening. However, in these canyons that is not the only good time to search of the light. At times that are later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon, the higher sun strikes the upper walls of such canyons and reflects beautiful light down into the canyon bottoms, like that may be colored by the rocks from which it reflects. In this spot it was not very bright, but the light was beautiful! Because we were “on our way” from one place to another we almost didn’t stop, if you can believe that!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Utah Fall Color, Meadows

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Utah Fall Color, Meadows - Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah
Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah

Utah Fall Color, Meadows. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful autumn foliage of aspen and other trees near a meadow in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar City, Utah.

The opportunity to photograph this wild fall color resulted from the second “random ride” of the afternoon – with “random ride” being a family description of a drive that ends up going where no one would have predicted. After a brief afternoon visit to Cedar City, Utah to take care of some minor business involving coffee, we headed back up into the mountains to the east of town. Driving along, I spotted another road that branched off in a potentially promising direction, and without so much as a glance at the map I turned right and headed up a canyon.

Since I spotted some interesting color right away, and because the road looked like it would climb to elevations where I knew the color was good, I continued on it. The hunch paid off. As we ascended, wide open vistas appeared across a panorama ranging from south to north, and new and interesting colorful foliage continued to appear. We finally ended up at location where the road crossed one of the most colorful autumn foliage displays I have seen. After photographing a nearby grove of trees right above us, I turned my camera the other direction and found this composition that includes a wild assortment of colorful autumn trees (mostly but not entirely aspens) leading down to the edge of a small meadow.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Aspen Forest, Near Cedar Breaks

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Aspen Forest, Near Cedar Breaks - Autumn colors in extensive aspen forests extend into the distance near Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah
Autumn colors in extensive aspen forests extend into the distance near Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Aspen Forest, Near Cedar Breaks. Dixie National Forest, Utah. October 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors in extensive aspen forests extend into the distance near Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

This was a serendipitous photograph. We were driving down a main road from Cedar Grove towards the lowlands when I caught site of a decent looking gravel side road that looked like it might head in the direction of some interesting and extensive aspen forests that were in full fall color – so I quickly turned off and headed down this road. It passed through huge stands of aspen trees as it descended toward the south, and eventually I felt that I had gone as far as time allowed, so I turned around and started back up the road with the sun at my back.

At about this time, a high thin layer of clouds moved over. This is more or less ideal for daytime photography of subjects like the aspens since it softens the light just a bit and moderates the harsh shadows and extreme contrasts that are otherwise found during daytime hours. With this tree color and this light, it was mostly a matter of finding some scene that would fit together compositionally, and here I found a bit of open meadow between colorful trees, along with a distant view to further aspen covered hills almost as far as I could see.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Escalante River, Early Fall

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Escalante River, Early Fall - Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.
Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.

Escalante River, Early Fall. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 6, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early fall colors begin to come to the trees lining the Escalante River, Utah.

If I have any regrets about this photograph, it might be that if I had been there a few days later the entire cottonwood-covered river bottom might have been the color of the leaves on the one brilliant foreground tree. But seriously, it was a stunningly beautiful scene. The trees here ranged from regular old green to quite brilliant yellow and gold, and the partly cloudy skies sent alternating cloud shadows and sunny breaks hurrying across the landscape. As I set up on this hill above the river valley, I would look back over my shoulder to spot the next break in the clouds, try to predict where and when it would cast its light, and then make several exposures as the light traversed the scene from near to far, first illuminating the foreground trees, then the red cliff faces, and finally the towers at the far end of the valley.

The terrain in this area is truly stunning. After dropping down a steep descent and traversing rolling waves of sandstone, the road makes a brief descent to the river bottom. It then begins to rise and is soon traveling along a length “hogback” with sheer drop-offs on both sides, and the river valley far below.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.