Tag Archives: brush

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Buildings, Leadfield

June 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Abandoned buildings at the site of the Leadfield mines, Death Valley National Park

In a way there is really nothing that special about Leadfield. It is one of many, many abandoned outposts and mining sites found all over California and, for that matter, all over the West. These sites remain, though precariously in some cases, as a reminder of a number of things: history that is not all that distant, the people who must have been willing to come to such places and attempt to scratch out a living by mining, the human capacities for misleading others and for falling victim to those who would mislead, and the temporal nature of things that might seem permanent at the time.

I’m no historian, but I can share a few facts about this particular spot. In the 1920s the town – with some semi-permanent buildings and reportedly many tents – came into existence and died again in the span of less than a single year. Although the reports of ore in the area and situation that might allow it to be successfully mined were wild exaggerations or downright lies, a road was built into this rugged area, work was started on a mill, and today there is still plenty of evidence of mines all around the area. I made this photograph from the tailings pile at the entrance to what I think may be the main mine shaft, looking out over the site in what I imagine might be the direction that a person working that mine might have looked. I wonder it these people took as much notice as I did of the tiny and inconsequential appearance of the human landscape against the vast and rugged natural landscape beyond?

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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Tree Covered Hillside, Cliff

June 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early autumn afternoon back-light on high country trees and shadows on a sandstone cliff face, Zion National Park

Perhaps surprisingly, trees were a big draw for me during my several visits to Zion National Park in October last year, and not just the trees that were getting their fall color. The junipers and pines are also intriguing, especially when backed by sandstone or lit from behind by low angle light as in this photograph.

This area near the eastern boundary of the park has intrigued me but also puzzled me each time I have stopped there. Nearly is a significant and named park feature that seems to be the main reason for stopping. It is an impressive geological feature… but, for the life of me, I have not been able to find a way to make an interesting photograph of it. Yet each time I passed by, I stopped and looked and pondered and (most often) did not photograph it. However, with each successive stop I began to pay more attention to other features in this spot: the big cliff on the other side of the valley on which colors fade from gray-white to red, the many trees that stand with enough space between them to allow back-light to pick them off individually, and more.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Winged Blackbirds in Flight

May 22, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A large flock of red-winged blackbirds flushes from the brush and takes flight over the San Joaquin Valley, California

I first started traveling to and photographing these areas in the California Central Valley because I was looking for sandhill cranes. I quickly discovered the other large migratory birds, especially the geese. But as I go back more often I see more and more things that are worth photographing. On this visit I had a bit of midday time to kill so I decided to go look at a new (to me) wildlife area.

The area is not far from another wildlife area, where I have most often photographed in this part of the valley. My initial thinking was that it might be an alternative location in which to look for the same flocks of Ross’s geese that I find nearby, but the staff people at the visitor center suggested otherwise. They did mention one area further north in the reserve where people had reported good bird viewing, so I decided to take a look. I didn’t see any geese there during my short visit, but I did see a bunch of other interesting birds, including this large and active flock of red-winged blackbirds, who obligingly lined themselves up to display the bright red areas along the base of their wings.

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

Creosote Shadows, Morning Tracks in Sand

May 17, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A clump of creosote brush casts a morning shadow across tracks in the sand, Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley National Park

While reviewing some old raw files near the end of 2012, I went back to some Death Valley photographs made during the past few years. I came upon this photograph that I had more or less forgotten. I wonder if at the time I was distracted by other photographs that appealed to me more, or if I perhaps just wasn’t sure how to treat it at the time. In any case, it still surprises me – even though I should know better by now – that I find photographs that I like among images that I thought I had finished with several years ago!

Looking through the other photographs that were part of the series that this one comes from, I recalled that I had gone out into dunes in Death Valley before dawn to photograph pre-dawn, dawn, and early morning conditions. As I often do, I approached these dunes by a roundabout route, not only to make the walk a bit easier but also to avoid other photographers and to have a better chance of finding sand that had not yet been tracked up by other human visitors. This small clump of creosote was growing in shallow sand, and its roots had slowed the windblown sand enough to create a very small hill. In turn, this let the low angle sun cast a shadow that led downhill into lower sand and which crossed the tracks of some wildlife that had passed this way the night before.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: brush

Abandoned Buildings, Leadfield

Tree Covered Hillside, Cliff

Creosote Shadows, Morning Tracks in Sand

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.