Tag Archives: afternoon

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest and Tower, Afternoon

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Forest and Tower, Afternoon
Gentle afternoon haze and soft spring light on forest and granite towers, Yosemite Valley.

Forest and Tower, Afternoon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Gentle afternoon haze and soft spring light on forest and granite towers, Yosemite Valley.

The main visual aspect of Yosemite Valley, I think, is of massive, iconic formations in combinations that would be almost impossible to imagine: a dome sliced in half, waterfalls launching from the edges of cliffs thousands of feet above the valley, incomprehensibly massive expanses of granite, the u-shaped form with a carpet of trees at the bottom. But more subtle things characterize the place, too: the back-lit afternoon haze, cloud shadows moving ac ross the landscape, trees and meadows next to the river, and more.

The location is a bit west of the most popular parts of the Valley, wheres a beautiful small meadow provides more open views of the surroundings. The meadow that can be more of a lake in the snow melt season when the nearby Merced river rises. This spot was almost the final stop on my recent one-day visit to the Valley, and there I found multiple subjects to 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.

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

Panamint Range Snow, Evening Light

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Panamint Range Snow, Evening Light
Late-day light illuminates snow covered ridges and thin forest along the summit of the Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park.

Panamint Range Snow, Evening Light. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Late-day light illuminates snow covered ridges and thin forest along the summit of the Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park.

The reputation of Death Valley National Park is mostly tied to heat — the desert, the dunes, the rare rainfall. I once asked German relatives why they choose to visit in the middle of summer when few of us would choose to go there. The answer, more or less, was that Death Valley is famous for being the hottest place on earth, and that is what they wanted to experience. People who “know” the park from that perspective are often shocked to find that snow is common here in the mountains.

When we visited the Panamint Mountains at the beginning spring the snow was plentiful, and we actually experienced a moderate snow squall. (One of the oddest experiences I’ve had in this park was some years back when we photographed spring wildflowers during a snow storm in Death Valley. Let that one sink in for a moment.) Late on this day we went to a high overlook to wait for sunset, and the warm light illuminated this nearby ridge in the very late afternoon.

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

Dunes, Blowing Dust

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Dunes, Blowing Dust
A late-afternoon spring dust storm sweeps across sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dunes, Blowing Dust. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A late-afternoon spring dust storm sweeps across sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

This was a wild scene. By late afternoon it was clear that high winds and blowing dust were on their way. We hunkered down for a while and ate an early dinner while waiting to see what would develop. The winds continued to build and the sand and dust were heading more and more in our direction. These conditions are both compelling and extremely uncomfortable, but my desire to photograph overcame my common sense and I headed out.

Since the winds were blowing from to my left and a bit behind me, I decided to head to an elevated spot where I would at least not be directly in the cloud of blowing sand. From this location I could look down and across the dunes and the clouds of sand sweeping across them. The wind was still a problem — a big problem actually. It was blowing so hard that even my relatively stout tripod was useless, so I leaned against a fixed object, raised the shutter speed, turned on image-stabilization and hoped for the best. It was literally impossible to hold the camera steady, so I resorted to timing my exposures for brief moments when things at least slowed down a little bit.

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 | Twitter | 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

Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains

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Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains
Afternoon light on desert mountains beyond rocks and playa, Death Valley.

Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Afternoon light on desert mountains beyond rocks and playa, Death Valley.

This spot has drawn my attention over many years of visits to Death Valley. It would be easy to miss — it is just a rock-covered hill next to a roadway, in a location where people are most likely looking in a different direction. But I stop here frequently and poke around, looking for photographs. It hasn’t been easy!

One of the challenges here is that, in my view, the best time to photograph here is in the late afternoon, just before the sun drops behind the far ridge. Not only does this bring the challenges of shooting almost directly into the sun, but the black rocks and easy turn into pure black shadows. It is also a bit of a challenge to find combinations of rocks that have some kind of compositional integrity. This photograph comes from an afternoon when some dust and haze highlighted light beams from the late-day sun.

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 | Twitter | 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.