Tag Archives: california

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

Salt Flats to Mountain Peaks

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Salt Flats to Mountain Peaks, Death Valley
“Salt Flats to Mountain Peaks” — Snow-covered Telescope and Rogers Peaks and the Panamint Mountains tower above Death Valley salt flats in morning shadows

It still seems odd to find water flowing here, but out on the salt flats of Death Valley it does flow at all times of the year. It is extremely shallow and it moves very slowly — but the amount of moisture out there is still impressive. Hint: don’t walk on these flats — you aren’t going to enjoy the thick mud on your shoes, the sensation of sinking into it, or the tracks you leave behind.

These mountains face the rising sun, so I was out there before sunrise, getting set up and framing some compositions so that I could work rapidly as the sun arrived. It comes quickly, and it is only minutes from the first light on the high, snow-covered peaks until the line of light starts to creep across the flats. This isn’t the lowest spot in the valley, though it is below sea level. The highest of those distant peaks is over 11,000 feet tall.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Zabriskie Before Sunrise

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Zabriskie Before Sunrise,Death Valley
“Zabriskie Before Sunrise” — Badlands terrain, distant Panamint Mountains, and Rogers Peak.

I made this photograph right around sunrise. A half hour earlier I had abruptly aborted my drive to a different locationi when I thought I saw some promising clouds in the pre-dawn dusk. I thought that they might produce something exceptional at sunrise. My hunch was wrong — it was a lovely morning at Zabriskie, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary. But since I was there I went ahead and photographed, including this image that includes the short and long views.

As I was standing there waiting for the right light, some women asked about that snow-covered peak. I said it was Telescope Peak, then realized my error — Telescope is hidden behind the dark foreground ridge, and the high point visible here is actually Rogers Peak, a lower summit near Telescope. One of the remarkable things about Death Valley National Park is the range of climates it encompasses. We can stand in an arid desert location like this one and look up to snow-covered alpine peaks.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: Nature

Imaginary Floral Landscape

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Imaginary Floral Landscape
“Imaginary Floral Landscape” — An imaginary floral lenscape of receeding spring petals.

This feels like a floral version of my “imaginary landscape” photographs, in which I push the interpretation of the image significantly, to the point that I feel it is best to acknowledge what is going on. (To many photographers and flower-lovers it is obvious that this is not a “what I saw” photograph, but more a “what I imagined” photo.) The starting point was a photograph I made using a macro lens and shooting across the top of a group of flowers.

The boundary between real and imaginary in photographs is much less obvious that some observers may realize. If you know what you are looking at, it is not a secret that photographs are usually the photographers interpretation of the subject, not a simple reproduction. To be honest, this is more or less a feature of photographs — they cannot really be full, objective records of things, and some element of interpretation figures in virtually all photographs.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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 Holly Plant, Dry Wash

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Desert Holly Plant, Dry Wash, Death Valley
“Desert Holly Plant, Dry Wash” — A dormant desert holly plant in a desert wash, Death Valley.

This photograph comes from one of the more arid, inhospitable-looking locations in Death Valley National Park. The soil here is not conducive to much plant life, and few plants manage to eke out an existence. One that does is the desert holly. When it gets enough water it sports lovely gray-green foliage, but when the heat and aridity become too much the plant goes dormant and turns brown/tan.

These plants are growing along the edges of a desert wash, which makes sense given that any sufficient runoff will move down this stream bed and leave behind a bit more moisture for the plants growing there. Washes like this, though often with a more gravelly surface, are everywhere this park, and they frequently provide passage into mountains.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.