Tag Archives: afternoon

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.

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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.

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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

Light in the Canyon

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Light in the Canyon
Afternoon light strikes a hill in the lower reaches of a Death Valley canyon.

Light in the Canyon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Afternoon light strikes a hill in the lower reaches of a Death Valley canyon.

As I mentioned I recent posts, my plans for Death Valley were somewhat thwarted when I arrived there to find that large areas of the park were not accessible due to flood damage. I had to strike some remote areas from my agenda, recalibrate, and visit more accessible locations. As a result I ended up visiting more accessible areas that I had avoided in the past, including several fascinating washes that I really should have visited before. Since I had a free afternoon before evening photography I decided to take a long hike up this wash and back, and I’m glad I did.

The deeper and narrower Death Valley canyons are great places to visit during the daytime hours — in fact, a typical shooting plan for me includes a sunrise and sunset locations with one or more canyons partially filling the time between the morning and evening shoots. The timing of this canyon walk was such that the bottom of the canyon was almost fully shaded at times. I made this photograph near a bend where a bit of light reached the bottom of the canyon and illuminated this lighter colored formation.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Sierra Rain

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Trees, Sierra Rain
Trees and afternoon rain in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

Trees, Sierra Rain. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Trees and afternoon rain in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

Photography in the rain is a challenge. Concerns range from small things (drops of water on the lens) to potential catastrophe (water damaging the electronics), with a range of intermediate issues, not the least of which is the photographer’s comfort! The challenges are compounded in the backcountry, where staying warm and relatively dry are both challenging and critical. There’s no warm car or motel room to retreat to!

After being mostly stuck in our tents during 24 hours or rainy weather, a few brief breaks were enough to coax us outside for photography and, also important, to stretch our legs. Since the rain hadn’t really stopped, I carried my backup camera and no tripod so that I could more easily deal with the inevitable showers. Speaking which, I made this photograph in the middle of one of them, managing to make a short series of photographs of these noble and tall trees growing out of a rocky rise.

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.