Tag Archives: atmospheric

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

Mountains, Sky, and Water

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Mountains, Sky, and Water
“Mountains, Sky, and Water” — Desert mountains and hazy light above Lake Manly, Death Valley.

Many of my Lake Manly photographs look out into Badwater Basin, across the lake, and towards the Panamint Range rising in the west. For this photograph I found a camera position a bit north of the “usual spot” and pointed the camera south to including the sequence of desert mountain slopes beyond the lake. This view includes the interrupted reflections of those slopes along with salt flats along the edge of the lake.

This photograph is related to another I shared recently that also featured layers of desert mountains extending into the far distance. Both feature “atmospheric recession,” in which haze lightens more distant features and obscures their details. In addition to elements such as converging perspective lines, this effect also can suggest depth and distance.

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

Receding Desert Ridges

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Receding Desert Ridges
“Receding Desert Ridges” — Desert ridges recede into the distance, Death Valley.

The desert is a fine place to photograph basic geological forms and effects of light. At first glance this may appear to be a monochromatic photograph, but it is just that the colors are so soft and subtle, being muted by the desert atmospheric haze. That haze is also responsible for the lighter tones of the distant mountains — an effect known as “atmospheric recession.”

Now, weeks after I made the photograph, I can only recall the location in general terms. It certainly was not an iconic spot nor a location where most people would stop. But these patterns speak to me, and I’m fascinated by the conjunctions and relationships of lines and by the layers of tonality in a such scenes.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Desert Mountain Ridges

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Desert Mountain Ridges
“Desert Mountain Ridges” — Layes of desert mountain ridges stretch to the east, Death Valley National Park.

This is one of those “photograph the thing you did not go for” photographs, seen while mostly focusing on an entirely different subject. I was in Death Valley partly because I go there every year at about this time, and partly to photograph the rare reappearance of Lake Manly. (This lake reformed following heavy rains in the desert starting late last summer.) On this morning I went to a point high above the valley to photograph the broad setting of the lake and to use long lenses to isolate details. But the lake is nowhere in this photograph…

… because this scene was in the opposite direction! I arrived well before sunrise, and while I waited for some of that sun to arrive in the valley the horizon to the east put on a spectacular show. Obviously the pre-dawn sky was impressive with its intense and varied colors. But the vast area visible from this point produced beautiful atmospheric recession over the layered ridges stretching into 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Autumn Haze

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Mono Lake, Autumn Haze
Haze settles over the expanse of Mono Lake on an autumn morning.

Mono Lake, Autumn Haze. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Haze settles over the expanse of Mono Lake on an autumn morning.

On this autumn morning I began photographing at Mono Lake well before dawn. My main idea was to work from a particular spot that has interesting shoreline contours and views towards distant peaks, starting when I could photograph the light of the intensely colorful pre-sunrise sky reflecting on the lake’s surface. I did that, and I stuck around just until the sun cleared those distant mountains — then I moved on to photograph the lake in more “normal” daytime light.

I initially went to this spot hoping to photograph some thin fog that was trying to establish itself along the lake’s shoreline, where cool autumn air flowed over the warmer lake waters. As I considered the scene I became more interested in the silhouettes of the distant island and hills, many miles away, and the textures and patterns formed by morning breezes on the surface of the immense lake.

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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