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

Detail, Red Cathedral

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Detail, Red Cathedral
“Detail, Red Cathedral” — The eroded and fluted face of the Red Cathedral, Zabriski Point, Death Valley National Park.

I have recently posted other photographs made in the area of Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, including one other of this feature sometimes known as the Red Cathedral. It stands to the right of the more famous and recognizable parts of the Zabriskie Point Landscape where, for example, Manley Beacon is one of the most well-known visual icons in the park.

This detail photograph was made using a long lens very shortly after the first morning light had arrived on this feature. In my experience, getting good light on Red Cathedral can be a tricky thing. Parts of it face away from the sun and towards Death Valley and because its face is deeply fluted it can be tricky avoiding blocked shadows. But increasing exposure too much creates problems with saturated colors on the brightest strata that cut through its face. If you shoot it in the morning, light somewhat softened by some high clouds can be helpful, and that is what I had on this morning – the sun light is direct, but it is also filtered a bit by passing through broken clouds to the east.

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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

First Light on Zabriskie Point Hills

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First Light on Zabriskie Point Hills
First Light on Zabriskie Point Hills

First Light on Zabriskie Point Hills. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light touches hills at Zabriskie Point with ridges of the Panamint Range visible in the distance, Death Valley National Park, California.

When I visit Death Valley – typically, at least once each year – I usually try to seek out some of the less iconic scenes. However, I still do visit the icons, too. And Zabriskie Point at dawn may be the best known and perhaps the most photographed “icon” in the park. When I do go to Zabriskie it is usually for one of two reasons. First, if the light or conditions are truly special, I’ll be there with everyone else when the sun comes up! Second, I have a vague project to try to photograph aspects of Zabriskie that are different from the icon views across Gower Gulch or of Manley Beacon. This photographs sort of fits into that second category.

Those who have photographed here more than once become acquainted with the way that the morning light typically unfolds at Zabriskie. The pre-dawn light begins to softly light the entire scene, and before long the very first dawn light strikes the highest ridges of the Panamint Range on the opposite side of the Valley to the west. This light works its way down the face of that range, gradually illuminating the ridges and valleys of the range and spreading horizontally. It then begins to hit the Valley floor and works its way east and closer to Zabriskie and the rest of the ranges along the east side of the Valley. Although the closest hills are in shadow, one can almost sense the beams of light over head that are reaching into the Valley and sense that the angle of this light is gradually working down toward the closest ridges. Then the first light appears on the higher features around Zabriskie Point, at first soft but quickly increasing in intensity.

This photograph was made at this moment when that firs light arrives. The subject is a darker and rugged ridge that rises between the usual vantage points and the backdrop of the distant Panamint range, which in this photograph is somewhat obscured by the hazy atmosphere on a day when giant dust storms were just beginning to develop further north in the Valley.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Groves, Conway Summit

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Aspen Groves, Conway Summit
Aspen Groves, Conway Summit

Aspen Groves, Conway Summit. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 16, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon sun backlights the immense aspen groves near Conway Summit, California.

As the sun dropped toward the peaks of the Sierra crest to the west of Conway Summit, beams of light occasionally broke through the partly cloudy skies and backlit these brilliantly colored aspen groves alongside highway 395. I’ve shot here enough times over the past few years to understand how the light works here – though I admit that every time I think I understand, I discover something new! For me, the ideal is to go to Conway Summit right at the peak of aspen color, or perhaps a bit earlier when a few green trees remain, and to shoot in late-afternoon light, aiming almost directly into the sun. The color of the light coming through these leaves is almost unbelievably intense and saturated – and, in fact, is a bit of a tricky thing to photograph!

There are many attractive things about Conway Summit when it comes to aspen viewing. (There are also, admittedly, a few less attractive things, such as shooting from the edge of a four-lane highway!) The stands of aspens are extensive here, covering many acres. Because of the slightly elevated viewpoint, the observer can look down into and across the trees as they follow the slope gently rising toward the Sierra. There are actually a large number of separate groves that stand mostly in lines stretching from left to right, and each of them is often in a different stage of color development at this point in the season, with the result being that trees of almost every shade from green to brilliant red can be seen at once.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Groves, Afternoon Light

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Aspen Groves, Afternoon Light
Aspen Groves, Afternoon Light

Aspen Groves, Afternoon Light. Conway Summit, California. October 16, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon sun backlights the brilliant fall colors of aspen groves along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada near Conway Summit.

This is one of what is likely to be a series of very gaudy and colorful photographs of autumn aspen color, much of it photographed at Conway Summit along highway 395 just north of Lee Vining and Mono Lake. Keep your sunglasses handy!

If you happen to arrive at the Conway Summit area at the right point in the fall color season, you can be treated to an astonishingly large and brilliant show of aspen color. (It isn’t a sure bet though. Some years it is not nearly as spectacular. ) This year the trees seemed to turn quite suddenly. A week earlier there had been a lot of very green trees at this elevation along the east side of the Sierra, and many of us expected that the most striking colors would not come until as much as a week later. But nature wasn’t listening, and one week after I had seen so much green, the aspens all along the eastern escarpment of the range were turning golden and many other shade, frequently all the way down to the level of Owens Valley.

After shooting in the early morning out in Owens Vally and then hiking up to Parsons Lake in the middle of the day, I finally made my way up north to Conway Summit just before what I regard as the ideal time to photograph aspen color here, namely during the last hour or so before the sun drops below the peaks of the Sierra to the west. During this period the trees are back- and side-lit in very dramatic ways. While shooting almost directly into the sun can be tricky, the backlit trees really light up. At first I was a bit concerned when I arrived since clouds over the crest threatened to end the light show early, and they actually did interfere at times. But they also broke up the light a bit and provided a combination of ever-changing light and shadow patterns. One moment the light would strike one area and I would shoot in that direction. A moment later that light was gone, but shortly it would appear in another spot – and I’d swivel the camera around and work that subject for a moment.

This little pair of groves is one that I’ve watched and photographed for several years. I like the way that it stands apart from the much larger main groves and has the plain grass and sagebrush covered hills as background. I made a series of exposures of this subject, and in this one the light crossing from left to right not only struck the colorful trees but also lit up some of the gentle ridges of the slopes beyond.

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 and Amazon.

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