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

Playa and Mountains, Last Light

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Playa and Mountains, Last Light
Twiilight winter sky above Death Valley playa and the Panamint Mountains.

Playa and Mountains, Last Light. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twiilight winter sky above Death Valley playa and the Panamint Mountains.

On one hand, I’m fortunate enough to live where I can get to Death Valley in a single day of driving. On the other hand, it is a rather long day! I was on the road close to 6:00AM. (Sometimes I leave earlier, but we were out the night before.) I don’t stop a lot on these drives, but even so it was close to 3:00 by the time I got to the place where I planned to camp… only do realize that this was a long weekend and there were actual crowds in Death Valley. I’m more used to seeing very few people there this time of year. This fact cost me a bit of extra time figuring out where to camp, and by the time I got that sorted out and headed out for evening photography it was pretty late in the day.

This is my way of saying that I had to make more or less a snap decision to commit to a general location and go there quickly. By the time I arrived there wasn’t going to be a lot of light left and I soon found myself photographing end-of-day and evening light. But what a beautiful sky it was! Desert dawn and sunset skies can, at least when there are some clouds, be exceptionally beautiful. I think one reason is that they stand above a landscape that is often stark and bare. (In the right conditions, that emptiness can be a canvas painted by this light.) On this evening there were a few clouds right above the Panamint Mountains, with one straggler stretching high into the sky against a lovely gradient transitioning from brightly lit clouds to the deep blue of oncoming night.

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: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

La Churreria, Dusk

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La Churreria, Dusk
La Churreria cafe at dusk, Nolita, Manhattan.

La Churreria, Dusk. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

La Churreria cafe at dusk, Nolita, Manhattan.

On this afternoon we met up with our oldest son, who works in Manhattan and lives a subway commute away, and we took a long, wandering walk south from Grand Central Station to near the southern tip of Lower Manhattan. Along the way we steered clear of the more major streets and often ended up on what pass for side streets. (Though most north-south streets in Manhattan or fairly well-traveled.) As we walked on this winter afternoon the light gradually shifted over toward evening, and by the time I made this photograph it was twilight.

Logically, the scene is perhaps nothing special and probably not all that different from a thousand other similar scenes throughout Manhattan — a somewhat grimy (at least to those of us from other places) street lined with lots of interesting little shops, where evening lights were coming on and casting an inviting glow onto the sidewalk. I regret not stopping here to grab a churro after reading about the place a bit after we returned home — it turns out that they had a take-out window, so we could have paused on our walk.

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

Geology Lesson

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Geology Lesson
Colorful eroded formation in Death Valley National Park

Geology Lesson. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful eroded formation in Death Valley National Park.

The title of this photograph is offered with tongue somewhat in cheek… since I would not be the first person you would go to for a real geology lesson, nor for an accurate description of the objective facts that would account for these remarkable formations. I understand that the material was layered a very long time ago, and that additional colors may have been added over time. Eventually the strata were distorted and twisted and then exposed, where the elements began a process of eroding material away and creating the sculpted effects we see today.

Regardless of the explanation, almost everything about this place and places like it evokes wonder: the striking patterns of uplifted and twisted strata, the unusual patterns of colorful material, the subtle curves of the gully that rises and then turn left, and the details visible in the soft 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.

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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

Dunes, Mountains, Clouds

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Dunes, Mountains, Clouds
Evening clouds above the Grapevine Mountains and sand dunes.

Dunes, Mountains, Clouds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening clouds above the Grapevine Mountains and sand dunes.

During the past week, as I’ve shared photographs and stories from my recent visit to Death Valley, you may have caught me complaining about the less-than-incredible light conditions while I was there. Just a little… ;-) But to be fair, one of the side effects of challenging lighting is that it often comes in association with at least some examples of unusual and striking lighting. You may have to wait for it — I sure did on this trip! — but most often it does arrive eventually. (To be honest, it is rare to encounter a period of purely miraculous or purely awful light. It is more that the balance between the two extremes is variable.)

On the final evening of this visit to Death Valley, after a full day of trying to work that uninspiring light (with at least some success) I was rewarded with a period of truly lovely and dramatic late afternoon and evening light. The clouds that had been afflicting me for nearly two days began to part, light came through, and the remaining clouds lent some drama to the scene.

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.