Category Archives: Photographs: Utah

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

Aretes, Hoodoos, and Trees

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Aretes, Hoodoos, and Trees - Sunset light on sparse trees, hoodoos, and descending aretes at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah
Sunset light on sparse trees, hoodoos, and descending aretes at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Aretes, Hoodoos, and Trees. Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah. October 4, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on sparse trees, hoodoos, and descending aretes at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah

Cedar Breaks National Monument is almost (but not quite!) a sort of “one trick pony” of a park, though it is quite a spectacular pony! The main draw is the steep and very colorful Bryce-like canyon that drops precipitously from a high ridge along which the park road runs. Below this ridge, beautiful pink layers are exposed, and they have been heavily weathered and eroded into ridges, canyons, steep cliffs, and hoodoo, dotted here and there with a few sparse trees. The canyon faces roughly west, to the late afternoon and evening light on these red rock formations can be quite stunning. (Meanwhile, above the drop-off, the land is entirely different, consisting of gently rolling highland forest mixed with meadows.)

On our first day in the area we got settled in to lodging at nearby Brian Head ski area – where rooms were available at really low rates since this was probably about as “off-season” as you can be! We had some time in the evening so we headed up the road out of Brian Head and were quickly inside the monument. There are quite a few viewpoints along this road, so we picked one. This photograph was in light softened by low clouds on the horizon that still allowed a bit of fading light to illuminate the canyon features from the right.

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

Juniper Tree and Sandstone Cliffs, Evening

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Juniper Tree and Sandstone Cliffs, Evening - Soft evening light on a single juniper tree among boulders at the base of tall sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park
Soft evening light on a single juniper tree among boulders at the base of tall sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park

Juniper Tree and Sandstone Cliffs, Evening. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 26, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft evening light on a single juniper tree among boulders at the base of tall sandstone cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park

This photograph was a serendipitous one that resulted from going to a somewhat unlikely place, and going there without a whole lot of enthusiasm, having only modest success at that place, and then while leaving happening to look up at the right moment and spot some very interesting and somewhat unusual post-sunset light. The plot began with an evening last-minute decision to go shoot “somewhere” in Capitol Reef, but without a specific objective in mind. We perhaps had some thoughts about shooting along the descent from Torrey, Utah toward the park boundary, but this is tricky late in the day due to the way the terrain slants up to the west, causing the sun to drop below the elevated horizon rather early and stealing the light from the foreground terrain.

When we passed the park boundary we still didn’t have a clear idea of what the evening’s “target” might be, so we drove slowly into the park, looking at many things but not seeing quite the photographic opportunities that might have caused us to stop. We finally decided to investigate a large canyon and drove to its entrance, parked, and walked in a ways. Because of the orientation of this canyon, the light here also left us rather soon. We made some photographs – a few of which might even turn out to be interesting – and then headed back out of the canyon. The way passed along the base of a very tall sandstone cliff formed from one of the thicker layers of sedimentary rock. Typically the rock would appear darker and redder, but the soft post-sunset light changed the tones to an almost pastel effect – and we both quickly decided to stop and do some shooting. This lone juniper trees was growing improbably in the middle of a pile of very large boulders that had fallen from the cliffs, and those cliffs were catching the late and soft light from the west.

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

Trees and Receding Red Rock Hills

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Trees and Receding Red Rock Hills - Sparse pines grow on low ledges in the high country red-rock sandstone, Zion National Park
Sparse pines grow on low ledges in the high country red-rock sandstone, Zion National Park

Trees and Receding Red Rock Hills. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sparse pines grow on low ledges in the high country red-rock sandstone, Zion National Park

Since I’ve posted several photograph of this particular terrain, there may not be a lot more to say about it beyond summarizing some of the basics. (And, yes, there will be more of this subject – though not too many more!) Out of the main park attraction of Zion Canyon and up in the high country, instead of being in a world of vertical cliffs that tower high above, it seems like we are more within than below the terrain. We can look down into washes and slot canyons, up to see sloping mountain sides, or straight across areas filled with slabs of curving sandstone on which various trees and bushes grow.

Here I lined up some backlit trees on a near ridge with those on a further ridge, with even more sloping ridges beyond. In the afternoon haze, the rocks combine their native red color with a bit of blue that comes from atmospheric haze, emphasized by backlight. And this same backlight lights up the needles of the trees, turning them almost white in places.

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

Red on White, Sandstone

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Red on White, Sandstone - A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park
A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park

Red on White, Sandstone. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park

All over the southwest, where various layers of sedimentary rock meet, it is possible to find odd and surprising juxtapositions of the different layers. In many places a bit of a higher, harder layer will remain above the softer material below, creating hoodoos and mushroom-shaped structures. Sometime the upper rim of a canyon will be lined with a layer of the harder rock, while there is a steep drop-off below. Here, bits of the darker read sandstone, with different types of layering and different texture, sit on top of the smoothly curving and finely layered underlying lighter rock.

I had seen this spot in Zion in the past – it isn’t all that hard to find – and even photographed it from a greater distance and different angles. This time I decided to approach more closely, walking out on the wave-like formation of the lower, lighter rock and passing around these small reddish prominences. I made this photograph on the same day I made many of my other most recent Zion photographs, a day when the light varied tremendously due to winds and cloud cover. One moment this spot was hit by brilliant sunshine, and a moment later it was in shade – and the changes did not always synchronize between the near and far elements. I made this photograph during a moment when the direct sun was largely muted by passing clouds.

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.