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

Erosion Patterns

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Erosion Patterns
Erosion channels line the walls of a Death Valley canyon in morning light.

Erosion Patterns. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Erosion channels line the walls of a Death Valley canyon in morning light.

This spot is a relatively accessible one, not terribly distant from a few other iconic locations, but one where I can usually find near solitude and lovely light early in the morning. When I’m in the general area I often swing though here on at least one morning. As such, I’ve gotten to know details of the place fairly well, to the point that I have a pretty good idea how the light will interact with the formations at various points during the day.

I went there one again during my most recent visit to Death Valley, and even though the light was a bit challenging on this morning — clouds were sometimes in the way — I spent several hours there photographing. This bit of the slope rising from this shallow canyon often presents subtle colors early in the morning, and here I photographed it just as the first direct light was sweeping across its surface.

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: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Beneath The Bridge

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“Beneath The Bridge” — Beneath a bridge, reflections from the water of a small creek on concrete structure.

This remarkable bit of texture, color, and geometry turned up where a creek passed beneath an underpass along a hiking path that I sometimes use. The patterns stopped me cold as I walked though this area, where I might typically pay almost no attendant to the photographic potential of the spot. The light reflected from the rippling water covers the scene with patterns that run in opposing directions. There is a right/left symmetry, but the tones are reversed in the two halves.

I usually carry a camera when I go out, typically a small one with a single small “pancake” lens. Most of the time I don’t even take it out, but every so often something turns up that makes me very glad I carried it. In addition, if you happen to be a fan of landscapes, when you open your eyes you may find that the “urban landscape” has a lot to offer, too.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Guys, Crosswalk

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Three Guys, Crosswalk
Three men crossing a Manhattan street, looking into the light.

Three Guys, Crosswalk. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three men crossing a Manhattan street, looking into the light.

One thing I like about photographing in New York City — or, for that matter, in any really busy urban area — is that challenge of picking subject out in the very dynamic environment. Once you tune it to it there are things happening all around you, often so fast that you barely have time to react… and you are absolutely certain to miss a good number of them. It requires a very different approach to photographing than one might use for, say, landscape photography. Not only that, but honing this alternative and fast approach, actually has benefits for other kinds of photography like, say, landscape photography!

There are so many potential angles that one can focus on when shooting street. It could be the people themselves. It might be the light. It may be color and texture. It could be compositional interest. Sometimes it is spontaneous relationships between elements that suddenly appear and this disappear. That was the case here. I already had the camera out and was photographing passing people when, for a brief instant, the three men in the cross walk glanced to the side at the same moment.

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

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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

Sunset Light Begins

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Sunset Light Begins
First dusk color comes to the sky above Death Valley and the snow-capped Panamint Mountains.

Sunset Light Begins. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First dusk color comes to the sky above Death Valley and the snow-capped Panamint Mountains.

Like most photographers, I’m typically attracted to the most intensely colorful phases of sunset light. I confess! Those colors are hard to resist, and frankly I don’t know of any good reason to not photograph them. (The “problem” perhaps occurs when one thinks that is the only light that is good enough to photograph.) As a matter of fact, not too long ago I shared another photograph from this spot, made at close to the same time on this evening, that does focus on a wildly colorful sky, captured at its peak of intensity.

This photograph is perhaps more subtle, photographed when the light was lovely but not so intensively colorful. Anyone who has observed such a sunset recognizes that it in a constant state of development and change. Late afternoon light almost imperceptibly fades into early evening light, and eventually the sky’s colors begin to intensify. At the most transient moment many elements are in play — the east becomes more blue, the sky in the far west seems “warmer” and more intense by contrast, and the whole thing parades across the sky from horizon to horizon. Here the fact that the gaudy colors are suppressed seems to allow us to see more clearly the beauty of the gentler blue light.

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.

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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.