Tag Archives: across

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

Desert Ranges

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Desert Ranges
A view from the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley toward mountains near Las Vegas.

Desert Ranges. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A view from the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley toward mountains near Las Vegas.

This is another in the “very long views” series. Like another recent photograph, it also comes from the crest of the Panamint Mountains, though this time looking generally east. As such, the view extends across Death Valley (over 6000 feet below), then over the Black Mountains, the Amargosa Range, and across the Amargosa Valley to a snow-capped ridge close to Las Vegas, Nevada. (in the full size version of this photograph remarkable details become visible — a parking lot near Artist Palette, utility poles along the road out of Death Valley.)

There is a bit of a story about the lighting in this scene. It is essentially front-lit, with the light coming from behind my camera position and shining directly on the subject. Typically, this would be about the worst kind of lighting for a landscape subject, especially when haze is present, since it produces almost no shadows and very little visibility of details. But here something compensates, namely the shadows of broken clouds which introduce some shadows into the scene and help us sense its depth.

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

Across the Valley

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Across the Valley
A desert wash curves past barren desert hills on its way to the salt flats of Death Valley.

Across the Valley. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A desert wash curves past barren desert hills on its way to the salt flats of Death Valley.

Visitors to Death Valley might not immediately realize how much of a role water has played (and continues to play) in shaping the place. I like to point out that this location, known for its heat and aridity, is one of the best places to see the effects of water laid bare. The vast playa and salt plains in the valley are formed by water that settles there and evaporates. The Valley once held an ancient (and quite large!) lake. The alluvial fans — like that in the foreground of the photo — are laced with waterways, small and large. The present-day forms of the mountains result largely from water eroding uplifted blocks.

The location of the photograph is on one of the immense alluvial fans that descend from rugged mountains toward the playa. In this area the fan is interrupted by groupings of mostly-barren hills, many featuring darker rock, and they line up in interesting patterns. In the far distance, perhaps up to 50 miles away, lie mountains at the far southern end of the Valley.

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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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, Photographs: Southern California

Badlands Gully

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Badlands Gully
A deeply forrowed and eroded badlands gully, Death Valley National Park.

Badlands Gully. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A deeply forrowed and eroded badlands gully, Death Valley National Park.

This scene may look familiar — I shared a vertical-orientation photograph of the same subject a few weeks ago. Often a subject strongly suggests either the vertical “portrait” orientation or the horizontal “landscape” arrangement. But sometimes a subject can work either way, albeit with different effects. Here I feel that the vertical interpretation more strongly followed the upward trajectory of the central gully, but that this version embeds it more firmly in the converging diagonal lines on the sides and emphasizes its curve.

This is not a major Death Valley feature. If you went to the location where I made the photograph you might not notice it. The gully is relatively small and high on a hillside, so I used a long focal length to frame it tightly. (I’m a big fan of long focal lengths for landscape photography.) It was early enough that the light was not yet intense and stark, and a bit of high cloudiness softened it a bit more.

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 | 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.

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

Across Desert Hills

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Across Desert Hills
Nearly-barren desert hills rise toward distant, haze-obscured mountains.

Special Note: Patty and I are presenting a Silicon Valley Open Studios event today. Look us up (Dan | Patty) or contact us for information. Visit us and see our prints!

Across Desert Hills. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Nearly-barren desert hills rise toward distant, haze-obscured mountains.

The desert landscape has many moods. When we are honest, I think most photographers will confess to a preference for focusing on aspects of this landscape that show only a part of this truth. (There’s nothing wrong with that, but viewers should be aware that photographs of the desert are not equivalent to the place itself.) We lean toward times and scenes where the colors are more attractive, we seek out subjects full of lines and interesting curves, we can be like to include the rarer spectacular skies rather than the common pure blue sky, and we can’t resist familiar and iconic subjects.

This isn’t one of those photographs, or at least I don’t think it is. At most times this succession of rising hills might barely attract your attention as you passed it on the way to something else. But I have photographed that “something else” plenty of times, so when I saw the late afternoon light slanting across the tops of the edges and fold, the bits of brighter vegetation, and the haze-obscured background I felt free to stop and look for a photograph.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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