Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Holly, Black Formation

May 15, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Desert Holly plants grow on a black formation, Death Valley National Park

This area of Death Valley National Park, not far from the popular Zabriskie Point overlook, shares some of the same geology with that often crowded location. However, you don’t have to go too far from that parking lot to find locations where you can be almost alone, especially early in the morning. This area is one such spot—easily accessible but not marked in any sort of obvious way. Yet it is a great place to spend hours looking at geological forms, sparse plants, and spare effects of light and color.

The desert holly plants grow in some of the most arid locations, and often appear to be the only plants that are able to survive where it grows. You might find a plant or two in a rocky wash, growing out of a crack in a rock wall, or on this dark (volcanic?) material. One can only imagine how hot this black earth must get in the heat of the Death Valley summer! Besides often being the only visible living thing in some very stark areas, desert holly also can change its appearance depending upon how the leaves are doing and on where the light comes from. Light from behind the plant can make it take on an almost golden glow.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Red Rock Towers

May 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A band of red rock towers high on a ridge in the Amargosa Range, Death Valley National Park

This is another in what might be termed the “Unspectacular Death Valley” series. ;-) As I have mentioned before, most of the terrain of this park and of similar places does not consist of high contrast, intensely colorful scenery. In reality, the color palette of much of the park is quite subtle, consisting primarily of tans and grays, with dark shadows, some reddish rock, occasionally other colors of rock, and few brilliantly colorful plants. (An exception may occur during a short period in a spring that follows an unusually wet winter, when some areas my show profuse wildflower blooms. And, of course, when shooting in golden hour light almost any landscape can become much more intense.) Over time I have come to like being in this seemingly plain landscape, even in the middle of the day.

These formations, some red rock outcroppings just below a ridge at the head of a small valley, are in an area I have visited a number of times. I’ve looked up at them and wondered how I could photograph them. This time I got a bit of help from the weather. The overall light was softened a bit by clouds, and the same cloud system gave me a darker gray sky beyond the ridge rather than the more typical plain blue sky. All of this brings out the color of the red rocks—which feel like a small, far-west outpost of Utah!—and allow the subtle colors of the vegetation to be just a bit clearer.

Equipment

New Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS Lens Announced

May 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Without a whole lot of fanfare, today Canon announced a new EF 16-35mm f/4L IS wide angle zoom. While actual copies are apparently not yet “in the wild,” judging by reports and information from Canon and elsewhere, it sounds like a lens with some very interesting possibilities.

At first blush, one might imagine that it is simply a less expensive version of the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II lens that has been out for some time now. (That is a fine lens for many purposes, notably for full frame shooters doing handheld ultra-wide photography in low light.) It shares the same focal length range, but the maximum aperture is not quite as large. (There is a similar relationship between the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II and the less expensive EF 24-70mm f/4L IS.)

However, the new lens has some distinctive features that set it apart from the f/2.8 16-35, and also from the venerable 17-40mm f/4 L.

Unlike either of the two ultra-wide alternatives, this lens is equipped with image-stabilization (IS). Some presume that IS would not be useful in a wide angle lens, but there are a number of situations in which the extra 3-4 stops of low light handheld shooting capability will come in handy. It is also likely to appeal to those shooting DSLR video.
The MTF charts (a way of graphically representing lens performance) for the new lens look very good. While the existing 16-35mm and 17-40mm Canon ultra-wide lenses have been very important to many photographers, they are not known for outstanding resolution, especially in the corners. The charts for the new lens indicate that it should be significantly sharper overall, and especially in the corners and at the largest apertures.
It may seem like a small thing, but the new lens uses the common 77mm diameter filter threads—the same that are found on a number of other L lenses, including the f/2.8 70-200mm zooms. (The previous f/2.8 16-35mm lens uses a larger 82mm diameter.) For photographers who already have 77mm filters—including some who might consider moving to this lens from an existing 17-40mm lens—this is a factor to consider.
The price is actually quite good. The lens is not cheap at a projected list price of $1199. However, by comparison to some similar recent Canon lens releases this is not bad at all, especially when you consider that it is an IS lens.

Who may want this lens? I suspect that quite a few landscape photographers and those shooting similar subjects will like this lens more than the older 17-40mm L lens. I’ve used the 17-40 for a long time and it is a very useful lens, especially for shooting at smaller apertures from the tripod with a full frame camera. However, the new lens seems to improve on its performance in significant ways, particularly in the area of corner performance. In addition, while most of us really think of the 17-40 as pretty much just a landscape lens, the improved wide-open performance and image stabilization will extend the usefulness of this lens in low and for handheld photography.

I’m impressed enough with early reports that I’m giving serious consideration to picking one up myself. The lens is not yet available for purchase, but you can pre-order a copy from B&H. At the moment, I’m “that close” to doing so!

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains, Rain

May 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Afternoon rain falls on peaks beyond a rising series of rugged desert mountain ridges, Death Valley National Park

This turned out to be a surprisingly and almost ridiculously productive day of photography, which was not at all what I expected as the day began nor at any number of times later in the day. Much of what happened was unplanned and the result of discovering things and of reacting intuitively to changing conditions. Prior to getting up before dawn to head to out first shooting location, my description of what I hoped would happen on this day or even of what I expected would happen would have had little in common with how it evolved. I have related some of the details of the earlier parts of the day already—sunrise light cut short by an incoming storm, the surprise discovery of abundant high desert mountain wildflowers, a snow storm, a first visit to an old historic site, and more—so I’ll just briefly mention the later part of the day. The winter storm, that brought some rain and snow to Death Valley National Park mountains, finally broke up, leaving a few showers high up in the mountains along with brilliant light coming through gaps in the thinning clouds, and these conditions lasted right on into the evening.

I made this photograph in the late afternoon. There was still plenty of rain or snow among the peaks, though the air was much clearer below and, indeed, some light was beginning to come through the clouds. Here I had a clear view across a portion of the valley, over the alluvial material at the base of the Cotton Mountains, and on up across the layered ridges toward the cloud-shrouded higher peaks. I had an idea for this as a photograph, but the light was difficulty and I knew that significant work in post would be required. Indeed, while this might seem like a simple natural landscape, the final version here is the result of significant work done after the fact in the digital darkroom.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Desert Holly, Black Formation

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Red Rock Towers

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New Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS Lens Announced

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Desert Mountains, Rain

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.