Tag Archives: canyon

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.

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

Canyon Narrows Light

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Canyon Narrows Light, Death Valley
“Canyon Narrows Light” — Soft, filtered light illuminates the walls of a Death Valley slot canyon.

Desert canyon light is remarkable. A canyon like this one is a huge contrast with the world outside — the intense, harsh desert light gives way to soft, gentle light and shade. The temperature drops. The color of the ight changes, too. Deep in the canyon it often shifts to ward blue, especially when the canyon walls are black or gray. There are also changes and contrasts where different softs of light come together — as in this photograph where the deeply shaded blue tones contrast with the warmer tones of the higher walls.

I walked quickly to get to these narrows, but once I arrived I stopped, took out my tripod, attached my camera, and ambled slowly while searching for photographs. New possibilities appeared at every bend in the canyon, and my progress stalled to a near standstill as I stopped every few feet to look at a new composition.

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

Fractal Landscape

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Fractal Landscape, Death Valley National Park
“Fractal Landscape” — A Death Valley landscape of layers of eroded ridges.

This view has intrigued me for years. At one popular Death Valley National Park location, one comes upon it quickly and often briefly. Because it is the coda of visits to this area that has many other attractions, it is easy to overlook it. It is harder to photograph than it seems that it should be — there are some compositional challenges, and unless the light is right the scene can have very low contrast and tricky colors.

The variety of pattens and details in the scene is remarkable. The first four ridges are low and consist of soft, easily eroded material. The more distant ridge is far away, across an intervening valley, and its details are almost always muted by haze. The foreground formations are deeply eroded and cut by gullies — which might seem like an odd thing at first when you consider that you are in an extremely hot and arid desert.

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

Canyon Bend

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Canyon Bend, Death Valley.
“Canyon Bend” — A narrow desert wash curves though the depths of a slot canyon, Death Valley.

This photograph was made in a somewhat remote Death Valley canyon — access requires a long drive on primitive roads followed by a bit of walking. On this late February day it was very quiet here, and I saw only two other parties during my visit. We often see photographs of very colorful Utah slot canyons, but this photograph is more typical of Death Valley, where the rocks are more likely dark and much less colorful. But the shade and the quiet are just as wonderful.

I often photograph canyons in vertical “portrait” format. The feeling of these landscapes tends to be vertical — narrow passages between very high stone walls. But stepping back a bit we notice that the canyons wind back and forth. Rather than heading straight into the mountains they lazily twist from side to side. It felt like the horizontal “landscape” orientation might better illustrate this.

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.