Tag Archives: country

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

High Country Desert Canyon

April 30, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A back-country gravel road twists through the upper reaches of a colorful mountain canyon, Death Valley National Park

The gravel back-country road might be hard to spot in this photograph, but if you look closely near the lower right you may see it twisting around a bend before crossing the canyon behind the rocky prominence at the bottom of the frame. The road begins in desert sagebrush country, then rises to cross the Amargosa Range before descending, sometimes precipitously, down toward the main Death Valley.

Some things about photographing this subject are easy and obvious, but others are a bit challenging and require some attention and then some resistance to trying to turn the scene into something it isn’t. What is easy about this subject? I am endlessly fascinated by winding canyons with overlapping ridges that descend toward the bottom of the canyon, creating a back and forth weave of form. Here the canyon winds from right (at the top) to left to right to left to right to left and, finally, back to the left. And the colors and textures are remarkable, ranging from the very dark rocks at the bottom, through the much lighter slopes right above to the rather reddish rock in the far, upper portion of the canyon. What is hard about it? In many ways, it is easy to pass right through such an area and overlook what it offers, since there really is not single, central, and iconic “thing” to focus the attention. Instead, I almost have to remind myself to slow down, to stop, and to just look… and finally the way to photograph such subjects begins to reveal itself. In addition, because the color palette of this land is so subtle, including mostly pastel shades that subtly contrast with one another, it is important, I think, to resist the ever-present temptation to hype it up into something it isn’t.

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

Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains

April 12, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Titus Canyon road twists through rugged desert landscape of Titanothere Canyon before climbing to its high point at Red Pass

I have driven through this desert back-country quite a few times during my visits to Death Valley National Park. This time was a bit different in two specific ways. First, in the past I have usually combined this route with an early morning shoot at a nearby location, shooting at this other location first, taking a breakfast break, and only then heading out on this drive. Consequently, I’ve always made the drive quite a bit later in the day when the light is much different – usually more hazy and with the sun higher in the sky. This time I started my day on this route, heading out just before dawn. Secondly, I made this a more leisurely passage. Sometimes in the past I have allowed myself to pass by too many portions of this region a bit too quickly, telling myself I had to move on in order to get to other things in time. This time I stopped a lot, and I often lingered at these stops for quite some time, poking around and looking for things to photograph that I might previously missed.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I have sometimes found certain aspects of the desert terrain to be quite difficult to “see” as photographs. I think that the limited color palette has been one issue (often spanning the range from gray to tan!) as has the tendency for things to have a rather uniform appearance – often it is hard to find one central and prominent feature to focus on. In addition, for a photographer who has tended to work in places with water and greenery, the desert possess some different challenges. More than on some previous visits, this time I think I realized more that it is absolutely critical to slow down and adapt to the different pace and rhythms of this world. This time, rather than looking and deciding to move on, I stopped and looked some more. And as I did I began to see that there are more of the patterns and juxtapositions and forms that intrigue me than I had realized.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Marsh and Trees, San Joaquin Valley

March 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Scattered trees grow in the marshland of the San Joaquin Valley, California

This photograph comes from a trip to California’s Central Valley on New Years Day with a group of friends – and I can’t imagine a better way to start a new year then by meeting up with friends in the pre-dawn darkness to begin a day photographing the migratory birds and generally hanging out with good people!

For me, photographing these marvelous birds turns out to be about more than the birds themselves, as remarkable as they are as a visual subject. There is a whole range of sensory associations that come to mind when I think of these winter visits to the marshlands to photograph the geese and cranes and other birds. The sound of thousands of geese never ceases to (literally) make me smile when I first hear it, and the sound of the cranes, especially when it comes from overhead or float through the fog, is evocative. The cold and damp and frequently foggy atmosphere is part of it, as is the long drive through the pre-dawn darkness (sometimes alone) and then arriving to find friends waiting. And the landscape itself draws me, which surprises me given how much it contrasts with the wilder landscapes of mountains and deserts and coastline. Often when I’m photographing birds, I interrupt that work to photograph this landscape, which is what I did here. I lined up a few trees, side-lit by the slightly fog-softened light, against the blue haze of clearing tule fog.

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

Canyon Bottom, Red Rock, and Trees

March 10, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Red rock sandstone terrain, trees, and brush line a canyon bottom in the high country of Zion National Park

Yes, I’m still working that vein of October 2012 Utah photographs! This one came from a productive day, though it wasn’t an easy one, during which we spent a lot of time along the Mount Carmel Highway that passes through the high country of the park, looking for fall color and juxtapositions of light and rock and trees.

This rough terrain varies in its susceptibility to being photographed as the light changes. Areas that might be muted while in shadow can become highlighted and separated from background terrain when the sun strikes them. On the other hand, certain subjects such as fall foliage may be almost impossible to photograph in direct light, but when they fall into shadows the soft and diffuse light can change them. This photograph combines the shadows and the direct light, with the sun lighting a few trees, especially those at the top of the foreground red rock, and letting them stand out against the background terrain that is in the shadows.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: country

High Country Desert Canyon

Backcountry Road, Desert Mountains

Marsh and Trees, San Joaquin Valley

Canyon Bottom, Red Rock, and Trees

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