Tag Archives: america

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tule Marsh, Fog

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Tule Marsh, Fog
A Central Valley tule marsh on a foggy winter day.

Tule Marsh, Fog. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

A Central Valley tule marsh on a foggy winter day.

My winter exploits photographing migratory birds often place me in beautiful landscape under spectacular skies and in the presence of remarkable flocks of thousands of geese and cranes. But that does not capture the totality of this experience. (News flash: the photographs we share most likely focus on best moments rather than typical moments.) On a cold, foggy Central Valley morning things can be gray and still, though it is rare that the sound of birds isn’t part of the experience.

I have an extensive background in music, and this has taught me something that can be missing from photography at times, namely that there are many kinds of beauty, and that not all of them yell at us for attention. Some are quiet and some, at least at first, may not even seem beautiful at all. I won’t try to explain what I find in this photographs — you’ll just have to trust me that it is there.

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

Morning, Desert Ridges

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Morning, Desert Ridges
Morning haze obscures the details of receding desert ridges and mountains.

Morning, Desert Ridges. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

Morning haze obscures the details of receding desert ridges and mountains.

Visits to places like this (and most travel, in my experience) have a sort of familiar life cycle. I’m fascinated by how many trips conclude. There’s something different about the final hours (or days on longer trips) when things are winding down and I begin to adapt to this. I was having that experience on this morning, the final one of my January Death Valley visit. As I went out to photograph, I didn’t wander too far from camp, and my mind was on packing up and the long drive I had ahead of me. I photographed one location that I had been meaning to get to and then I took a detour up into the hills before heading back to camp.

Although the day started at a location that I hadn’t really photographed, I ended up in this very familiar area. The location has a very long view of a large portion of the immense landscape of Death Valley. Even on a clear day — and this was a clear day — the haze still affects how we see the furthest distances. I paused here and made a series of photographs that used the haze to mute the details of the landscape. Then I was done. I headed to camp, finally had some breakfast, packed up, and headed home.

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

Ridges and Light

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Ridges and Light
Morning light on curved ridges, Death Valley National Park.

Ridges and Light. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light on curved ridges, Death Valley National Park.

There are many ways to tell the story of a landscape. One approach is to go for the whole thing, the epic landscape, the big view, and to put everything in the frame. This can work, and it may produce impressive and powerful images of great scale. And, to be sure, Death Valley National Park’s landscape lends itself to this with its expansive vistas, immense mountains ranges, and other striking features.

Another way to say something about a landscape is to go in the opposite direction and let small “excerpts” from the larger scene present aspects of it. The more I photograph a place the more I trend in this direction. You’ll still find me looking at those big views, but more and more I look for small bits and pieces. The texture of these rounded ridges is found all over Death Valley and is usually eroded into some combination of gullies and small, smooth hills. Here the warm-colored early morning light is sweeping across these hills, contrasting with the cooler tones of the shadows.

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

Light and Dark

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Light and Dark
Highly contrasing geological formations in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

Light and Dark. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

Highly contrasing geological formations in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

To be honest, much of the Death Valley landscape, as remarkable as it is, tends to feature somewhat neutral tones and colors — many grays and tans and light browns. This is particularly true outside the early and late hours of the day, when warm light often intensifies the subtle colors of the terrain. This neutral quality is actually one of the virtues of the landscape in most cases, particularly in the way that lets light and shadow emerge as primary visual components.

But sometimes a bit more contrast in the landscape can be a good thing, so when I find it here I almost always look for ways to photograph it. This simple scene is a fine example. The early morning sun was just beginning to strike the white colored hill, lining its right flank with rim light. Meanwhile the background slope, composed of much darker material interrupted by lighter strata, was still in shadow.

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.