Tag Archives: arches

Cliff Face in Morning Light

Cliff Face in Morning Light
“Cliff Face in Morning Light” — Warm early-morning sunlight intensifies colors and textures of a sandstone cliff, Arches National Park.

We had finished dawn photography of nearby formations on this October morning at Arches National Park. As I was working that subject I kept noticing this remarkable bit of cliff, also in the direct morning sunlight. The larger formation of which it is a part did not offer me any obvious photographic subject, so I switched to a long lens and zeroed in on the colors and textures of this small portion of the scene.

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Sandstone Terrain and Mountains

Sandstone Terrain and Mountains
“Sandstone Terrain and Mountains” — Morning haze and backlight obscures distant mountains and sandstone terrain, Arches National Park.

Arches National Park is red rock country, a landscape dominated by the colors of Southwest sandstone. Almost all of my photographs of the area are in color, for that obvious reason. It is not just the rocks themselves — the complementary greens of vegetation and the blue of the sky feature strongly, too. But this particular view, a veritable moonscape, seems to call for a monochrome interpretation.

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Sandstone Towers

Sandstone Towers
“Sandstone Towers” — Red rock sandstone towers, Arches National Park.

Remembering the October day when I made this photograph, I recall that there were some thunderstorms around the area and that we had mixed light. These were those wonderful conditions where it might rain one moment and the next there might be brilliant sunshine, always with the possibility of a dramatic sky. It appears that I made this exposure during one of those sunny breaks. (Looking at other original exposures in the sequence, not all of them had this light.)

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Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire

Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire
“Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire” — Altar and stained glass windows at the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire, Brussels.

This beautiful church in Brussels, the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire, doesn’t seem to be on the tourist map. But we think it was well worth the visit. We walked there from our lodgings in the touristy old part of Brussels. Walking away from there changed our perspective on the city. It appeared that we may have been the only tourists at this church.

Entering the church it was rather dark. But once our eyes adjusted to the natural light, we noticed that sunlight was streaming in through stained glass windows along its east side . At the front of the church, the stained glass windows comprised most of the vertical surfaces, and this created a lovely, light-filled area.


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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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