Tag Archives: black and white

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

Angle of Repose

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Angle of Repose
Sand dune patterns, Death Valley National Park.

This “intimate landscape” is a sand dune vignette made in a specific place but which could be found almost anywhere. A close look may reveal some details that desert and sand aficionados may find interesting. The large patterns are typically found on one side of dunes where sand blown over the top of the dune collects below. The smaller “ripples” are a common feature of dunes, too, and these are completely undisturbed since the dunes are somewhat remote. Looking even closer may reveal some tinier patterns and tracks across the face of the sand.

The term “angle of repose” refers to the steepest angle at which a material, such as this sand, might collect without collapsing or sliding downhill. It is also the title of a wonderful Wallace Stegner novel, and that is where I first encountered the term. Fans of the history of the American West, especially the part that came after initial explorations, and especially those who have roots in the west may enjoy the novel as much as I did, with its connections to places and types of people that I know from my own experience.

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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, Photographs: Southern California

Dune Plants, Morning Light

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Dune Plants, Morning Light
Light from the morning sun slants across the face of sand dunes to illuminate desert plants.

Dune Plants, Morning Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light from the morning sun slants across the face of sand dunes to illuminate desert plants.

During times of what I consider to be the most interesting light in the dunes — right around sunrise and sunset — the scene changes with remarkable speed. These landscapes are so much about the color and angles of the light, and at these times both of those elements can change with great speed. One moment a subject might be dull and flat, but a moment later as a beam of light comes over a dune it may be spotlighted against shadows or its color may change drastically. I’m always surprised by how dynamic the photography process is in this supposedly static landscape!

I had earlier noticed this creosote bush and its small companion, but passed them by since they were in flat shadows. I turned my attention to something else further away, and when I looked at the nearer landscape a few minutes later I saw that the plants were in the sun and the light was touching the top of the dune in the upper part of the frame. I quickly turned my attention to this intimate landscape, and changed continuously as I made several exposures over what must have been no more than a minute or two.

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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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

Desert Mountains, Before Sunrise

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Desert Mountains, Before Sunrise
A canyon twists down through rugged desert mountains in pre-sunrise light.

Desert Mountains, Before Sunrise. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A canyon twists down through rugged desert mountains in pre-sunrise light.

One thing that has always appealed to me about the desert landscape — which for me often means the Death Valley landscape — is that the geology is laid bare almost everywhere. So many landscapes are to a great extent about what covers them — the forests, grasslands, lakes, meadows, rivers, and more. But here most of the vegetation is so sparse (or it matches the colors of rocks and soil so well) that we see straight to the underlying earth — the canyons, the colors of rock and soil, strata twisted and uplifted, runoff channels, landslides, fans, and more.

This canyon descends toward Death Valley from high in the Panamint Mountains, following a twisting path down from the heights as it links up tributary valleys and eventually forms a broad wash that spills out at the top of a gigantic gravel fan. I made this photograph before sunrise, when the soft, early light suffused the canyons and revealed subtle details that can be lost in harsher light later in the day.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Light, San Luis Reservoir

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Winter Light, San Luis Reservoir
High clouds, fog, and brilliant light on a winter day over San Luis Reservoir, California.

Winter Light, San Luis Reservoir. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High clouds, fog, and brilliant light on a winter day over San Luis Reservoir, California.

Because it lies between the southern San Francisco Bay Area and California’s Great Central Valley — and on the route to many interesting places ranging from the Sierra to Southern California and Death Valley — I have driven past the San Luis Reservoir probably hundreds of times over the years. (I’m old enough to barely recall the area before there was a reservoir, from trips when I was a young child.) Being just another part of the system to transport water in the state, I hardly think of it as one of California’s great scenic wonders.

But in the right conditions and the right light, it becomes difficult to ignore it as a landscape subject. The reservoir is huge and it is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Because of the expansive scale, light can reflect off its surface in ways that mimic what I sometimes see along the Pacific Ocean coast. It also picks up the winter atmosphere, with its fogs and mists, from the Central Valley. And because the road runs more or less along its northern shore, all of this is frequently backlit, as in this photograph that I made in the middle of the day while returning from the Central Valley.

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.