Tag Archives: alluvial

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

Buttes, Evening Light

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Buttes, Evening Light
Evening light into Blackwater Wash illuminates buttes above Death Valley

Buttes, Evening Light. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light into Blackwater Wash illuminates buttes above Death Valley

These buttes or hills have fascinated me for a long time. They project out of the gigantic gravel fields of the alluvial fan at the base of the Panamint Mountains known as Blackwater Wash. They are visible from the floor of Death Valley, across its wide expanse to the west, often partially obscured by haze late in the day. From a few high points in the Panamint range they are also visible from above, often poking up above ridges or framed by v-shaped canyons.

I made this photograph from one of those higher positions, a location along the summit ridge of the Panamint Mountains that provides views in all directions, including down into Death Valley itself. This time I was there near the end of the day, as haze filled the valley and the last sunlight of the day came over the summit of the mountain range, casting beams of light down into the canyon and lighting these hills.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Hills, Evening

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Desert Hills, Evening
Evening light on desert hills, wash, and alluvial fan, Death Valley National Park

Desert Hills, Evening. Death Valley National Park, California. April 5, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on desert hills, wash, and alluvial fan, Death Valley National Park

Once again I traveled to this Death Valley location, this time for evening light, and climbed to the top of a small hill that was starting to feel like home to me! (I photographed from this spot on three occasions during this visit to the park.) The hill is not tall, but in the mostly flat terrain of this immense alluvial slope it was tall enough to put me above the landscape and reveal features not visible from down on the ground.

I discovered that at the start and end of the day this spot provided a great vantage point for viewing the light transitions of dawn and dusk. The valley is so immense and the elevations differences between low and high points so great that the light doesn’t appear (or disappear) all at once, but instead goes through a relatively lengthy transition. In the evening it fades on the valley floor before actual sunset, since in all directions the horizon is obstructed by mountains. But in this spot those mountains are many, many miles away and not that far above the horizon, so the light continues as it takes on the warm colors of sunset. The idea in this photograph was to photograph across the foreground wash, past the contrasting darker hills, over the continuation of the alluvial fan, and on into the rising hills in the far distance.

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

Desert Wash And Hills

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Desert Wash And Hills
Morning light on a desert wash, hills on an alluvial fan, salt flats, and distant mountains of Death Valley National park

Desert Wash And Hills. Death Valley National Park, California. April 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on a desert wash, hills on an alluvial fan, salt flats, and distant mountains of Death Valley National park

As I wrote in a previous message describing this Death Valley trip, one of the areas I decided to focus on this time was this one — a location along a fairly well-known Death Valley route that includes a vast alluvial fan, cut by washes, interrupted by hills of darker rocks, and always with extensive long views of surrounding mountains and off int the distant reaches of the valley itself.

This time I went in the early morning. I arrived before sunrise, set up, and watched as the morning began to unfold. From this location I could see a huge range of terrain. The highest point in the park at more than 11,000′, Telescope Peak, poked up above the bulk of the Panamint Range and caught the first dawn sunlight. Far to the west I could see the upper slopes of the Cottonwood mountains, and soon the sun lit them, too. The light slowly worked its way down from the mountains and before long fingers of morning sunlight reached the valley floor. I made this photograph while some distant parts of the valley were under cloud shadows, but when the light was beginning to shine on the desert wash at the base of the small hill from which I photographed.

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

The Edge Of The Valley

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The Edge Of The Valley
Evening light on golden hills and a wash at the base of the Black Mountains

The Edge Of The Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on golden hills and a wash at the base of the Black Mountains

I often use a sort of scheduling strategy when photographing in Death Valley. I get up before dawn and start with some subject that works will in the first light, and then I work a second subject that is promising in somewhat later light. Following a midday break (spent in camp or perhaps traveling to a more distant location) I reverse course later in the day, starting with a subject that works in non-golden hour light and then moving to one that works well around sunset and beyond. If conditions are right, I may even add a night subject! The second morning subject and the first afternoon subject are often canyons of one sort or another, where the edge-of-the-day light can be too dim, but where later light from a higher sun can be wonderful.

I had begun this afternoon’s photography with such a subject, one of the canyons along the eastern side of the valley. In the 90 degree plus afternoon heat I loaded up my pack with camera gear and water and slowly wandered into a narrow canyon where there was beautiful shade and somewhat moderated temperatures. Eventually it was time to return from the canyon and I reversed course and emerged from the mouth of the canyon during golden hour. This time I didn’t even have to travel to the final location since I was already there! At the time I made this photograph the long shadow of the Panamint range had stretched almost all the way across the valley and would soon steal the light from these hills, but for a few moments the golden light produced lengthy shadows and a colorful glow on the hills and along the wash emerging from the canyon.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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