Tag Archives: canyonlands

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Green River Canyon

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Green River Canyon
A hazy evening overlooking the Green River Canyon as sunset.

Green River Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hazy evening overlooking the Green River Canyon at sunset.

The story of this photograph — and this version of the image — is a bit involved for the usual two-paragraph post, but here goes. The first part concerns the fact that this is not a new photograph, but that I created and shared in the past. However, as I looked at it during my pandemic project of reviewing old files, I began to feel that it could benefit from a bit of reinterpretation. The result is not radically different, but I like it a bit more. A slightly modified crop and a few other bits of post-processing revision provide a stronger sense of what I recall experiencing when I made the photograph.

And speaking of making the photograph, this is where I get to — yet again! — tell a story on myself. I made the photograph on the first day of my first-ever visit to this Utah national park and, as is my frequently practice, I entered this park having done essentially no prior research. My idea, at least most of the time, is that I don’t want to go to such places with too many preconceptions, preferring to go with my own personal response to the place. (Funny story: We passed a turn-off at one point to “Mesa Arch,” one of this things that every photographer must “capture” in this park. I had no idea it was there… and we kept driving.) So, we entered the park and drove up to the “island in the sky” mesa area and began poking around. Eventually we “discovered” a location with a spectacular panoramic view down into and across the magnificent canyon of the Green River. I later came to understand that perhaps I wasn’t the first person to visit this spot… to put in mildly.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

White Rim, Colorado River Valley

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White Rim, Colorado River Valley
White Rim, Colorado River Valley

White Rim, Colorado River Valley. Canyonlands National Park, Utah. October 10, 2012. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Colorado River winds through rugged country beyond the White Rim, Canyonlands National Park

On our second visit to Canyonlands National Park (the first had been back in April of the same year, when we briefly visited the “Island in the Sky” highlands of the park) we were somewhat stymied by less than astonishing light. Overall the skies were sort of partly cloudy, but that “partly” portion seemed to line up almost perfectly with where we were, and from afternoon on a large mass of clouds sat above us and to the west. For this photograph, that might have actually been a bit of a blessing, in that trying to photograph the tremendously intricate and detailed landscape visible from the “Grand View” overlook in full sun at this time of day would have been challenging, to say the least. This landscape, lit that way, would have contained some extremely bright features along with very deep shadows in the canyons, and the result probably would not have been all that great. The clouds, however, somewhat mute the contrasty light, making the bright areas a bit less bright and allowing diffused light down into areas that would otherwise be dark. At least there was a bit of light on the buttes in the far distance at the upper edge of the frame.

This scene is one of those “iconic” views that, well, everyone photographs. Generally, I’m not that much about photographing icons. In fact, often when I go to places like this I try to not know what the iconic shots are or where to find them, preferring to instead just sort of guess, follow hunches, poke around, and see what I discover. This may not be the most effective way to find the “cool stuff” in a new location, but it does let me start to develop my own relationship with a landscape from the very beginning. So when we went into Canyonlands the first time I basically had almost no idea what I was “supposed” to see and photograph. (For example, I had no idea that iconic “Mesa Arch” is in this park – drove past the road to it and said, “Ah, that’s where Mesa Arch is!” And, no, I did not photograph it.) However, as we wandered about and looked at stuff, we somehow managed to end up at several of “those places” – especially the Green River overlook (which I now recognize as one of the iconic views of this park) and Grand View. In addition, I’ve often advised others to not eschew icons in certain situations. One, of course, is when you find yourself in front of such an icon and have never photographed it before. But another is when one visits a location for the first time and does not yet have a deeper knowledge of the place. For example, I’ll occasionally get asked by first time visitors to Yosemite or Death Valley (places where I shoot a lot) about where the “secret spots” are that not everyone shoots. I tell them that getting to know a place to such an extent that you can find, “see,” understand and photograph the non-iconic subjects is not a reasonable goal for a first visit. Often that takes many visits, perhaps in different seasons, and the time to let the place “get under your skin” to the point that you have a real feel for it.* But everyone has to start somewhere, and photographing icons is a fine place to start when you are new to a place. They are, after all, usually quite spectacular spots – as I say, “They are icons for a reason.”

*For my part, during my first year photographing in Utah I spent over 30 days there during three long visits. It wasn’t until well into the third visit that I really began to feel that I was moving past the “Oh, wow, Utah!” state and starting to really understand the place.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist 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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Colorado River, Dead Horse Point

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Colorado River, Dead Horse Point
Colorado River, Dead Horse Point

Colorado River, Dead Horse Point. Deadhorse Point State Park, Utah. October 10, 2012. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The canyon of the Colorado River, from Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah

The light was a bit tricky when we drove out to Dead Horse Point to look at the famous view of the Colorado River as it loops below huge cliffs at the edge of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. It was nearing the middle of the day, so the soft morning and evening light was nowhere to be found. It was also hazy, with the slightly opaque air taking on distinctly blue colors. For all of these reasons, and also perhaps as a nod to old school landscape photography, I went with a black and white rendition of this photograph.

This is a truly remarkable bit of terrain. First, in the bottom of the canyon the Colorado River negotiates and abrupt horseshoe bend here beneath the tall cliffs leading up to the “Island in the Sky” portion of Canyonlands National Park. Above the river are a series of huge terraces form as the river eroded its way though the deep and old layers of sedimentary rock that characterize this area. Shooting with a slightly long focal length, I was able to eliminate most extraneous subjects and crop tightly around this area of massive cliffs and terraces.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Commentary, Ideas

Photographing Icons – Or Not

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Yesterday I shared elsewhere a photograph that someone had posted featuring a line-up of scores of photographers, arrayed tripod-to-tripod, ready to photograph one of those iconic views that we all know so well. I suspect that we have all been to such places and either found the experience of seeing and photographing them to be powerful… or we might have been repulsed by the crowds of people all apparently trying to “capture” the same thing, among them perhaps a number of folks who might be trying to almost literally recreate versions of the scene that they had seen elsewhere.

The point of the share (seen here and here) was not complimentary. My reaction to the photograph was to wonder, even more than usual, why people would want to make photographs that way. I phrased it as, more or less, “yet another reason to avoid photographing icons.”

However, a person wrote to me after I posted and pointed out, with a bit of anger and with some justification I think, that complaining about and putting down those who want to photograph a beautiful place might seem a bit pretentious and self-righteous.

She has a point.

While there is something a bit troubling about seeing dozens of people lined up to make the very same photograph, some of us might be a bit too quick to jump to overly negative conclusions. Perhaps there is a way to cast this as a positive lesson, rather than ridicule. So let me engage in a bit of reflection and honesty. Continue reading Photographing Icons – Or Not →