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

Clouds at Last Light – Badwater Basin and Panamint Range

May 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Last light of the day over the Panamint Range casts its glow on Badwater Basin salt flats and clouds.

In what may be the last gasp of my obvious attempt to extract as many photographs as possible from this late March evening in Badwater Basin, here is yet another. This one was photographed well after the sun had set, and I had turned my camera away from the expansive view north into Death Valley and to the east towards the Panamint Range and Telescope Peak over which I saw this wing-shaped cloud. While there was a thin band of relatively bright sky above the Panamint Range, everything else was heading quickly toward twilight. (The longer exposures listed in the “technical data” below will confirm the light levels.)

I’ve previously mentioned the subjective issue of how to handle the very blue tone of the “white” salt formations here. The salt is, no doubt, really white – but after the sun dips below the Panamint Range the only light is that of the very blue sky, and the salt picks this up. If you think about it you can see it on the scene, but when you look at the photographs later it is absolutely clear. I’ve been thinking for several weeks about how I’d handle this one, and I decided over a week ago that I’d “go for the blue” with this rendition.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 17mm
ISO 100, f/16, composite of .8 second and 1.3 second exposures

keywords: panamint, mountain, range, badwater, basin, salt, flats, polygons, desert, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, travel, scenic, dusk, twilight, sunset, cloud, large, dark, sky, nature, blue, evening, pink, stock, pattern

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Spring Oaks and Blue Sky

May 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

New spring growth on oak trees against perfect blue sky, Castle Rock State Park, California.

This is a simple photograph of a group of oak trees starting to get spring leaves with a deep blue spring sky in the background. I made the photograph along a trail just past Goat Rock at the Castle Rock State Park along the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As I walked along this trail I had been looking down, trying to find potential photographs of the many wildflowers along this hillside – but without a lot of success, given that the late morning hour was making the lighting quite challenging. I happened to look up as I continued on the trail and the silhouettes of the group of trees caught my attention, along with the juxtaposition of the bright colors of the new growth against the color of the sky

This has been a wetter and colder winter in the San Francisco Bay Area than we have had for a few years. Even though the calendar says we are well into spring, the weather has continued to be (what, in California passes for) winter-like, with rain storms still coming in from the Pacific. However, this morning felt like the first real spring day of the year with bright sun and warm temperatures.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 35mm
ISO 100, f/11, 1/80 second

keywords: castle rock, state, park, santa cruz, mountains, california, usa, north america, blue, sky, perfect, leaves, yellow, gold, new, spring, season, trunk, branch, silhouette, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, morning, light, pattern, grove, stock, plant, flora, foliage

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Succulent Plant Growing on Rock

April 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Black and white photograph of a single succulent plant growing on an almost barren rock face at Castle Rock State Park, California.

I wish I had a better title for this photograph, but I’m afraid that I am not expert at plant identification. (Yes, I’m hoping that someone who knows about these things will offer an identification – I’ll change the title to reflect this. Thanks in advance!)

(Update: “Thank you!” to Gena and Guy who suggest that it is a type of stonecrop. That makes sense to me.)

On this warm spring-like morning I hiked at Castle Rock State Park along the summit ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains – this was my first hike of the season on which it actually felt like spring rather than winter. (It has been a wet winter here in the San Francisco Bay Area.) As I passed over a rocky section of the trail to Goat Rock I paused to think about photographing some ferns and wildflowers that were growing against the base of a small rock face. I didn’t find anything along those lines worth photographing, but I did spot this single specimen of some sort of small succulent plant growing out of seemingly nothing in the middle of the rock face. The plant’s location was so improbable that I stopped and looked around for another of the same type, but this seemed to be the only one.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 105mm
ISO 100, f/16, 2 seconds

keywords: black and white, monochrome, single, succulent, plant, leaf, pointed, spring, season, cliff, wall, moss, lichen, trail, hike, castle rock, state, park, california, usa, north america, nature, flora, vegetation, barren, face, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Rhyolite Bank Ruins, Full Moon Light

April 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The light of the rising full moon illuminates the ruins of the old bank building against a star-filled sky in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada.

I have photographed the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada on several occasions in the past, but always in the very early morning. (I have a habit of hitting Rhyolite before dawn, shooting as long as the light allows, visiting Beatty for cheap gas and breakfast, then heading back to Death Valley via Titus Canyon.) I have wanted to try photographing the location both at sunset and under a full moon, and the timing for both worked out on my late March visit to Death Valley National Park. Late on my second afternoon I headed east out of the Valley and over the pass and arrived at Rhyolite before sunset.

I spent some time wandering around the familiar locations in the unfamiliar late-day light. In the end, my suspicion that Rhyolite is more of an early morning location than an evening location seemed to be confirmed. At this time of year the sun sets a bit too far to the “right” as you look west, and the the light is blocked by a low hill at just the time it would otherwise become interesting. I did make some photographs of the ruins of the ghost town in the fading light… then I settled in to make a few night photographs of the tall bank building ruins.

I’m thinking of this as sort of a practice run for a return visit for more Rhyolite night photography. I think that the full moon timing has potential, but I want to try again and think more about the placement of the structures relative to the North Star. One more thing… when I arrived there was essentially no one else there. Soon a couple other photographers showed up, but the place was still relatively deserted. Then, after dark, I was surprised when a number of cars showed up. There was apparently some sort of night photography workshop visiting the place – perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that they acted like they owned the place and that the rest of us didn’t matter. Most night photographers would know better than to drive into a shooting location with headlights blazing, and they might ask photographers who were already there if their light painting would interfere with shots underway. Just sayin’…

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 22mm
ISO 200, f/11, 432 seconds

keywords: death valley, national, park, nevada usa, north america, scenic, travel, nature, desert, full, moon, light, rising, rhyolite, ghost, town, ruins, abandoned, weathered, column, bank, building, wall, window, sky, star, trail, night, nocturnal, photography, shadow, historic, mining, stock

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