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

First Light, Dunes and Creosote

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First Light, Dunes and Creosote
Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

First Light, Dunes and Creosote. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

I love early morning in the sand dunes. When photographing there I typically arrive well before sunrise, when there is just a hint of light in the sky. In Death Valley this is mostly a very quiet time of the day, often with few other visitors, when the winds have died down yet the temperatures are still comfortable. The ideal morning is preceded by a windy afternoon the day before and into the evening, which may wipe away many of the footprints from the previous day’s visitors. However, walking into the dunes I always find new “footprints” — of mice and reptiles and other desert residents.

The transition of morning dusk light to full sunlight always amazes me, even after experiencing it many times. At first things move slowly though inexorably as the overall sky begins to gradually lighten. Well before actual sunrise there is quite a bit of light, but it is soft and gentle light, generally with a blue tint from the pre-sunrise sky. (I made this photograph at just about this point.) Then the pace accelerates as the first direct sunlight strikes some high point, generally to my west, and the light begins to transition to the saturated reddish colors of sunrise and work its way to lower elevations. By this time I’m engaged in photographing and usually working fast as the light changes very quickly. As the sun rises above the horizon or a mountain ridge a brief moment of soft, direct light begins, but the light quickly becomes intense and the difference between shadow and highlights becomes very large. Before long the coloration of this intense light diminishes and conditions move toward “just plain daylight.” I photograph a bit longer… and then it is time for a break!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature

Tidy Tips

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Tidy Tips
A tidy tips flower, above a bed of baby blue-eyes.

Tidy Tips. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tidy tips flower, above a bed of baby blue-eyes.

My relationship with things that require naming is… complicated. I photograph birds, but I only know the identities of a few particular types that I photograph. I’ve never been able to recall the names of the various trees of California, aside from the most obvious ones. And flowers have always been a problem. I may know the flower by sight, I might be able to tell you when and where to find it, and it is possible that I can even describe the plant it grows on. My naming the flower? Not likely. At best, I can manage to keep track of the popular names of a few of the most obvious and familiar types — California golden poppy, paintbrush, shooting star, and a few others.

But this one I know is called “tidy tips.” (Unless someone is pulling my leg…) The name seems to make sense, and I presume that it refers to the striking pattern of the yellow center and the white tips of the petals. I photographed this specimen in a central California meadow in early April, when this years spectacular bloom was at its peak. The flower is an individual specimen, but it grew among many, many thousands of other flowers including the baby blue-eye that appear in the background.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Hills and Wash

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Hills and Wash
A desert wash winds through colorful hills at the base of the Black Mountains in soft evening light.

Hills and Wash. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A desert wash winds through colorful hills at the base of the Black Mountains in soft evening light.

I am a bit surprised that I never really noticed this feature before. This wash twists its way up through a series of very colorful hills that are plainly visible from a road that I have travelled many times. I suppose that the explanation may be that I have often passed by on my way to some other specific location, and thus my attention hasn’t been on my immediate surroundings as much as it should have been.

This was a very cloudy evening, but there were brief intervals of light, often filtered by high clouds and in gaps between thicker clouds and a high mountain ridge to the west. It was extremely windy and the light was in a constant state of flux, so when I saw this scene I worked very quickly, deciding that using a tripod wouldn’t help much in the strong gusty winds and that getting the photograph quickly before the light changed was the most important thing. Sure enough, within seconds after making a small number of exposures this light was gone.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Sand Storm Clouds

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Sand Storm Clouds
Sand storm clouds narly obliterate the llight above dones and mountains

Sand Storm Clouds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sand storm clouds nearly obliterate the light above dunes and mountains.

Desert sand (or dust) storms are complicated things, bringing extraordinarily difficult conditions but also sometimes amazing visual opportunities. Operating within the worst of them is almost impossible, especially for a photographer trying to manage sensitive equipment and lenses… and manage to see and breathe. It can be done, but most people should not try. (I once read a semi-official description of Death Valley sand storm conditions on the dunes, in which the writer basically said, in no uncertain terms, “Don’t even try.” And then followed up with a description of the steps necessary to function in the storm… which would likely dissuade any sane person.) I’ve been caught in these storms more than once, even camping in a couple of them. I can assure you that it was not at all pleasant.

Yet these storms are also powerful and awe-inspiring events. (“Awesome” in the original sense of provoking awe.) I recall once a couple of years ago driving down into another such storm — much worse than this one — and listening to the sound of sand hitting the vehicle… and then the sound of small pebbles falling from the sky. That got my attention. To make this photograph I stopped along the edge of the storm, where the winds were very strong but had not yet picked up much sand and dust. Working handheld, since no tripod would stabilize a camera in these conditions, I stood in the lee of my vehicle for a few minutes and photographed across the blowing dust and the dunes toward the setting sun, whose light was a barely visible through the clouds.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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