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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Panamint Range, Light Beams

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Panamint Range, Light Beams

Panamint Range, Light Beams. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams over the Panamint Range beyond the salt flats, Death Valley National Park, California.

Last April (2008) I was in DV for few days to photograph all around the area. One afternoon my brother and I drove to the south with a plan of photographing the salt formations near Badwater in the late afternoon and early evening light. As we got there we saw these tremendous light beams (a.k.a. “God Light”) coming through the clouds that had gathered over the ridge of the Panamint range to the west, and illuminating the arroyos along the east side of the range and occasionally the valley floor in the distance.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Death Valley

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

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Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams over the east face of the Panamint Mountains above Death Valley. Viewed from the east side of the Valley near Badwater.

I’ve been very lucky to encounter this phenomenon more than once when I’ve been in Death Valley. Although I know that most of the time it can be perfectly (too perfectly) clear there, I’ve seen clouds build over the Panamints in the afternoon during my April visits and then thin just enough late in the day to let these light beams shine through and illuminate the lower reaches of the Panamint Range.

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