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

Panamint Range to the Amargosa Range, Dawn

January 13, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Dawn light on the Amargosa Range and lower ridges of the Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park.

This is another photograph from an early morning winter venture high into the Panamint Range in Death Valley National Park during the first week of the year. While the desert can be a rather drab place during most of the day, in the right conditions the colors can be nearly psychedelic for a few moments near the ends of the day – and this was one of those mornings for sure.

While many might wish for perfect, clear, haze-free atmosphere, it was the presence of some rather hazy conditions that created the wild atmospheric conditions as the sun came up on this morning. Light simply passed through clear air, but it illuminates hazy air and can make it glow. At this moment the sun had just risen and the light was nearly horizontal as it passed across the immense gulf of Death Valley to light the nearby lower ridge of the Panamint Range and the much more distant upper peaks of the Amargosa Range.

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Equipment

Canon’s New Powershot G1 X Camera

January 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Shortly after the start of the new year, Canon announced a new camera in its “Powershot” series, the Powershot G1X. While the “Powershot” label might bring to mind something more like a consumer point and shoot camera, the G1 X provides considerably more capabilities than that might suggest. (G1 X at site sponsor B&H.)

There is a lot to note about this camera, but one of the most interesting and important features is its use of a larger sensor than used in previous Powershot designs. The earlier cameras (including the current “high end” of the series, the G12 and the closely related S100) use very small sensors. This allows those cameras to be very small and light, especially because smaller lenses can be used. They can produce quite good image quality at low ISOs, but the IQ breaks down relatively quickly if you have to shoot at a higher ISO in low light.

The G1 X sensor is considerably larger. Its 14+ megapixel sensor is only a bit smaller than that found in the Canon APS-C cropped sensor DSLR bodies (like the t3i and the 7D, etc) and it is a bit larger than the sensors in the compact four-thirds cameras. It is a lot larger than the sensor in the previous Powershot cameras. Since many photographers who have been otherwise attracted to the smaller cameras (like the S100 and the G12 ) have been slightly put off by the compromises inherent in the very small sensors, this is a big deal. The G1 X provides a relatively small and compact camera that can provide image quality that is very competitive what that produced by cropped sensor DSLRs. Continue reading Canon’s New Powershot G1 X Camera →

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

First Light, Southern Death Valley

January 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

As seen from Aguereberry Point, first dawn light spills across the lower end of Death Valley.

I have previously photographed from this location high in the Panamint Range and overlooking a vast portion of Death Valley National Park and its surroundings. The view stretches east to 11,000+’ peaks in Nevada and west to the crest of the Sierra Nevada, and great distances north and south to places and features that I cannot identify. My previous visits had all been late in the day, and I had often wondered what the location might be like at the start of the day. So, on this visit to Death Valley, a trip to Aguereberry Point before dawn was on my agenda.

As usual, I awoke well before dawn at my camp site back at Stovepipe Wells. (You can often tell if there are other photographers about – in the dark period an hour or more before sunrise you hear people quietly get up, quickly start their engines, and drive away.) I headed up into the Panamints and turned off at the start of the six-mile gravel road that goes to this point, and arrived just before the first colorful light began to light up the sky – and I was pleased to see that there were some interesting clouds. I have been fascinated by this view over the shoulder of a ridge dropping down toward the Valley above Trail Canyon, so I composed a photograph that juxtaposed this diagonal with the end of the Black Mountains across the valley and the light-filled atmosphere beyond where the very first sun was coming across lower Death Valley.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

New Snow, Forest

January 11, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

New fallen snow covers trees and ground in a Yosemite Valley Forest.

This is a nearly five year old photograph from a magical early March visit to Yosemite Valley back in 2006. (Perhaps the subject attracts me right now because it contrasts with the current snow-free state of The Valley and much of the Sierra in this strange year of potential drought.) March is an interesting time in low-elevation areas of the Sierra like the Valley – while you could have a nice, sunny early spring-like day you could just as easily encounter a late-season storm, and the latter is what I encountered when I arrived on this morning.

The first thing I photographed when I arrived was the snow-covered Valley as seen from the famous Wawona Tunnel View. That scene is, indeed, a cliché – but sometimes when the conditions are right, as they were on this morning, I’ll head straight to such an iconic place and remind myself just why it is iconic! After finishing up there I headed back into the Valley and I recall that I finally just pulled over, got out of the car, and decided to set out on foot looking for interesting winter scenes in the fresh snow. I can’t even say exactly where this spot was, though I am fairly sure it was more or less along the Merced River somewhere – how’s that for a lack of precision!? But it didn’t really matter, as the subject here was not some specific place but more the sort of morning it was with new snow coating the trees and gentle winter light filtering down through the forest canopy.

Happy New Years and best wishes for a great 2012!

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Panamint Range to the Amargosa Range, Dawn

Canon’s New Powershot G1 X Camera

First Light, Southern Death Valley

New Snow, Forest

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