Tag Archives: arid

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

Desert Mountains, Morning

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Desert Mountains, Morning
“Desert Mountains, Morning” — A sunrise view across rugged desert mountain rainges from Dantes View, Death Valley.

I arrived at this well-known location high the Black Mountains well before sunrise. I’ve photographed here in the evening, but this time I was looking for sunrise light, which first touches the peaks of the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley, then works its way down and across the valley. Aside from the moments just before and after sunrise, these things happen relatively slowly, so I had plenty of time to look around at other subjects, too, including this view of layered desert mountain ranges.

Death Valley is the star attraction here for most people, but it is surrounded by impressive mountain ranges on all sides, and most of them are visible from this ridge. They stretch off into the far distance to the southwest. (Yes, somewhere in that direction lies Los Angeles!) The photograph looks southward along the flank of the Black Mountains, then across salt flats in Death Valley, and on toWard far more distant mountains.

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

Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow

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Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow
“Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow” — The shadow of a mountain retreats across a flooded playa in morning light, Death Valley.

It is hard to make sense of the landforms of Death Valley when you are within the valley. It is so vast and so flat that your view is often a combination of what is right at your feet and what is many miles away. A more comprehensive view comes from ascending to a high point in the mountains on either side of the valley. From these elevated perspectives you can see things that are otherwise invisible.

This year these perspectives revealed something very unusual. A large section of the playa near Badwater, where the lowest point is located, is submerged under the shallow waters of Lake Manly. This photograph incorporates several elements of this year’s view — that shadow of the mountains on which I was standing, the salt flats shining white in morning light, the turquoise waters of the shallow lake, and a maze of channels along its periphery.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains

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Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains
“Evening Dunes, Desert Mountains” — The day’s last light on sand dunes backed by the Kit Fox hills and base of the Grapevine Mountains.

What trip to Death Valley would be complete without at least one morning or evening wandering sand dunes and photographing them? Although this visit was focused on the ephemeral appearance of Lake Manly, I still found some time for more familiar subjects. On my final evening in the park I went to these well-known dunes just before sunset, planning to photograph the dunes, the lengthening shadows, the warm light, and distant desert mountains.

There are a lot of little bits of knowledge about these dunes that are useful if you are going to photograph them. Here the sunset light disappears a bit earlier than you might expect since long shadows move across the valley as the sun drops behind mountains in the west. There’s only a brief interval between very bright direct sun and the arrival of the shadows — so it is important to arrive earlier than you might think and to then be ready to act quickly.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Flooded Playa

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Flooded Playa
“Flooded Playa” — The flooded landscape of the playa near Manly Lake, Death Valley.

This is another in a series of photographs of the floor of Death Valley near Badwater, photographed from high in the Black Mountains early one morning. Following a historic storm in August of 2023, this part of the valley flooded, partially reconstituting the historic Lake Manly. There is still a lot of water, and many areas of the playa are currently inaccessible.

To make these photographs I used very long focal length lenses, which allowed me to isolate small areas in this vast terrain. The formations seen here are in a very flat area just upstream of Lake Manly. The area is mostly a salt flat in normal times. Here the blue water makes visible the many wandering channels through which the water flows.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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