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

Desert Peak, Clearing Storm

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Desert Peak, Clearing Storm
“Desert Peak, Clearing Storm” — Clearing clouds swirl around the summit of a desert mountain following overnight snowfall.

If you are unfamiliar with the place, you may be surprised that this scene is in Death Valley National Park. That desert park is famous for recording the hottest recorded temperature on planet, known for its arid playas and immense sand dunes. But there are mountains, too, some of which reach as much as 11,000′ above that dry valley. During the winter they are cold places and snow is common.

In mid-March I arrived at the park at the tail end of a series of stormy days. It had rained in the valley — apparently enough that some campers departed early — and snowed at the higher elevations. The Panamint Mountains towered to my right as I drove into the park through the Panamint Valley. Although the rain had mostly stopped at the lower elevations, snow flurries continued among the peaks.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains

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Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains
“Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains” — The day’s last light on sand dunes backed by the Kit Fox hills and base of the Grapevine Mountains.

What trip to Death Valley would be complete without at least one morning or evening wandering sand dunes and photographing them? Although this visit was focused on the ephemeral appearance of Lake Manly, I still found some time for more familiar subjects. On my final evening in the park I went to these well-known dunes just before sunset, planning to photograph the dunes, the lengthening shadows, the warm light, and distant desert mountains.

There are a lot of little bits of knowledge about these dunes that are useful if you are going to photograph them. Here the sunset light disappears a bit earlier than you might expect since long shadows move across the valley as the sun drops behind mountains in the west. There’s only a brief interval between very bright direct sun and the arrival of the shadows — so it is important to arrive earlier than you might think and to then be ready to act quickly.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Trona Pinnacles

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Trona Pinnacles
“Trona Pinnacles” — Trona Pinnacles in early morning light.

Every time I visit Death Valley I pass close enough to these formations to see them standing in the distance, a striking sight in this otherwise flat valley where there was once a large lake. (They are tufa towers, formed when the area was submerged.) From time to time I detour to photograph them, but they have been a tough subject. I made this photograph on another of those detours, stopping between Ridgecrest and Death Valley before sunrise. The light proved to be challenging, but I had a few moments of lovely side-light shortly after sunrise.

The photograph is a liberal interpretation of the scene. Obviously, the subject is not really monochromatic, but I chose that route because it seems more dramatic. By the use of filters (here in software, but the effect is the same as we got in the old days with glass filters) I have accentuated the contrast in the sky to produce the effect that I had in mind when I photographed here.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Flooded Playa

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Flooded Playa
“Flooded Playa” — The flooded landscape of the playa near Manly Lake, Death Valley.

This is another in a series of photographs of the floor of Death Valley near Badwater, photographed from high in the Black Mountains early one morning. Following a historic storm in August of 2023, this part of the valley flooded, partially reconstituting the historic Lake Manly. There is still a lot of water, and many areas of the playa are currently inaccessible.

To make these photographs I used very long focal length lenses, which allowed me to isolate small areas in this vast terrain. The formations seen here are in a very flat area just upstream of Lake Manly. The area is mostly a salt flat in normal times. Here the blue water makes visible the many wandering channels through which the water flows.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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.