Tag Archives: cliffs

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Flowers

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Autumn Flowers
“Autumn Flowers” — Autumn flowers scattered across a Yosemite Valley meadow.

The fall colors brought me to Yosemite Valley for a few days at the end of October. But autumn there isn’t just abut those colors — everything about the place is different during this season. The Valley seems to slow down and mellow out, and I sense that winter is just around the corner, even on a warm, sunny day like this one.

There’s a lot going on in this photograph, and it was a challenge to incorporate all of these elements. Right in front of the camera we see the golden-brown meadow, dotted with white flowers . The forest begins beyond that, with deciduous trees close to the Merced River and then large groves of conifers. In the distance, we see several of the famous Yosemite Valley granite cliffs, with details muted by haze and bright late-afternoon sun.

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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


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape

Canyon Hikers

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Canyon Hikers
“Canyon Hikers” — Two hikers walk along a desert wash between high walls in a Death Valley canyon.

It seems to me that when most people think of Death Valley National Park, the first things that come to mind are familiar desert icons, the sand dunes, with features like salt flats close behind. But the park is remarkably diverse, with other features that would surprise those who don’t know of them. Among them are the park’s canyons, some of which — like this one — feature extremely high walls.

The weather often dictates what we do on any given Death Valley day. On this one we had clouds building towards evening rain, so the light on grand landscape subjects was not especially great. So we decided to visit a canyon or two. This one is fairly accessible so we were most certainly not alone. but at times the other visitors disappeared behind curves in the canyon. I decided to include these two hikers in order to illustrate the size of the canyon.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Red Cliffs and Trees

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Red Cliffs and Trees
“Red Cliffs and Trees” — Kolob Canyon red sandstone walls in morning light and shadow, Zion National Park.

There are plenty of people whose knowledge of the red rock sandstone formations of the Southwest exceeds mine. But I have observed tremendous variations in these rocks as I photographed in Utah. The rock generally comes in layers that vary significantly in color and texture. Sometimes they are thick, uniform, and massive. In other locations they are filled with textured sub-layers and contain curves and cracks.

The example in this photograph is one of those massive, solid layers. This cliff is in Zion National Park’s slightly-more-remote Kolob Canyon. It is in a location where you can get quite close to this impressive layer. I made the photograph on a morning with a bit of haze. The position of the sun in front and to the right of the camera produced rim light on the cliff’s edges.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Red Rock Sunset

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Red Rock Sunset
“Red Rock Sunset” — Sunset light on red rock formations near Fruita, Capitol Reef National Park.

This spot is obviously full of spectacular scenery, though it was a bit tricky to photograph near sunset. One of the “problems” actually turned out to be a plus. There was some overcast that muted the light, but the light was still strong enough to be softly directional, especially on the more distant cliffs. A second issue is geological. The area is on an inclined formation that rises to the west, so the sun actually drops behind the uplifted western horizon a bit earlier than true sunset.

The color was astonishingly red in this sunset light, especially since the soft light reduced harsh shadows and highlights. I don’t often include roads in my landscape photographs, but in this case, a) it was unavoidable and b) it produced a useful leading line heading toward the groves of trees and the campground at Fruita.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.