Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Hills, Evening Shadows

November 29, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light and shadows on desert hills and Death Valley salt flats

My first visit to the park was in the late 1990s, but I’ve been a regular since then. I visit Death Valley for about a week at least once each year, and have photographed all over the park. In a way, this first surprised me a bit, since when I was younger I was not attracted to the desert at all, having been brought up on the notion of the “desert wasteland,” and having been a huge fan of the high Sierra since I was young. So even though the desert was nearby I didn’t visit before a chance encounter that came about when I was one of the adult chaperones on a trip introducing high school and middle school kids to the place. Literally from my first view of the place (after crawling out of a tent in a high place at dawn to look across the valley), I was entranced.

The photographic subjects in this national park (and similar desert locations) range from intimate to immense, and several things always draw my attention. Because of the hot and dry environment, the landscape is laid bare in ways that are uncommon in other mountains. (Unless you go above tree line, into another of my favorite worlds.) The land-forming effects of uplift, mountain-building, water (!) and wind are easy to see. And this naked landscape is often painted and colored by the light in beautiful ways. This photograph, at least as I see it, offers several contrasts: between the low hills and the flatness of their surroundings, between the shadow and light, and between the small and the large.

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

Mud Hills, Evening Light

November 28, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Mud hills near the mouth of a Death Valley canyon

On this evening I had taken a “random” walk into a canyon that I hadn’t visited before. It isn’t a tremendously popular place, so I had its narrow confines almost completely to myself, even though I wasn’t all that far from some rather popular Death Valley locations. The canyon itself was not the most visually striking Death Valley location I have visited, though its narrow dimensions and solitude were notable. I reached a blockage some distance up the canyon, and since the hour was getting late I decided to reverse course and head back out for early evening light.

As is so often the case with these canyons, I emerged from the dark and narrow canyon onto a broad wash that expanded onto an alluvial fan littered with boulders, cut by water courses, and open to more distant views. Golden hour light was beginning, so there was a lot to photograph, and it took me quite a while to work my way down from here toward the trailhead. As I walked, the surrounding hills became lower and more rounded as they gradually merged with the alluvial slopes that tend to line the valley. As the light faded with the already behind hills to the west, I made a final stop to photograph these folded forms, glowing in the filtered and soft light of early evening.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fractured Granite

November 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A fractured granite cliff in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

I made this photograph on a morning when I was in the eastern Sierra to photograph autumn subject, particularly the annual color change of the aspen trees. Being in a place where I have photographed many times, I quickly dispensed with the familiar (and even iconic) subjects in the area and then, as I like to do, simply wandered slowly with my eyes open, looking for little elements of the larger landscape that caught my eye. Although I have walked past this granite quite a few times, it may be the first time I have photographed it.

Granite (along with, as geologist friends might remind me, rocks informally referred to as granite) is ubiquitous in the Sierra, and is one of the most characteristic features of the Sierra Nevada experience. Not only is there a lot of it, but it has been laid bare by (mostly) glacial action, and it appears in its original locations and in places where the rocks have been moved by water and ice. As a person who has hiked here for decades and who spent a few years as a rock climber, I developed an intimate familiarity with this rock. It can be smooth or rough, uniform in color and texture or interspersed with veins and crystals. It can be freezing cold in winter or benignly warm on a summer day. It may be nearly white, gray, or incorporate a host of color variations. It seems to be solid and unchanging, but there is evidence everywhere that it has been moved and broken and shaped.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Selfie, Reflection

November 26, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Reflection of a couple posing for a selfie, Whitney Museum, Manhattan

I made this photograph when we visited the Whitney Museum on a trip to New York City earlier this year — the new version of the Whitney located in Chelsea near the end of The High Line Park. We were there at least partly to see the Calder exhibit, but also because we like the Whitney itself. I not only like the place (and this is true of other museums I visit) for the work that is exhibited, but also for the photographic opportunities. There are lots of people to see, and this museum incorporates all kinds of other interesting visual opportunities: the architecture of the building, the outside terraces, the views of the surrounding areas.

I made this photograph on one of the outdoor terraces on an upper floor. The terraces provide open views of Manhattan, and they house large works that display well in outdoor spaces. There are always lots of people passing through these spaces, and this couple stopped to make a selfie photo against one of the sculptures, inadvertently positioning themselves where their reflection also incorporated a slightly distorted view of the Manhattan surroundings. The subject of “selfies” is a big one on its own, and I won’t try to take that on in its entirely here. However, people making these photographs of themselves sometimes seem to let down their guard as they temporarily become almost oblivious to their surroundings and they often assemble into interesting group poses.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Desert Hills, Evening Shadows

Mud Hills, Evening Light

Fractured Granite

Selfie, Reflection

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