Tag Archives: curve

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Light in the Narrows

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Light in the Narrows
Light filtering down from far above lights the curving path through desert canyon narrows.

Light in the Narrows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light filtering down from far above lights the curving path through desert canyon narrows.

Since the start of the pandemic lockdown, the number of days I’ve been able to spend in my favorite landscape locations has been extremely limited. The last time I was able to go to Death Valley — a place I have photographed every year for decades — was in early 2020. Now that I’ve completed my vaccinations it seemed safe and responsible to travel out into that backcountry for a few days of photography, mostly in the places the tourists don’t go. Fortunately, in this park it is possible to put yourself in fairly isolated locations where, for example, you might not encounter another person for 24 hours.

One night I camped alone at the end of a road that dead-ends in the lower reaches of a canyon. This gave me time to explore the canyon twice — first in late-afternoon light and again the next morning when the light came from the opposite direction. Most canyon walking (often more accurately described as wash-walking) in Death Valley is done out in the open, frequently in intense sunlight. But at the right times fo day in the right canyons one can escape that light and enjoy the soft glow of light from above reflected between the canyon walls.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Garden Wall Arches

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Garden Wall Arches
A texture wall with archest next to a small garden, Balboa Park.

Garden Wall Arches. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A texture wall with archest next to a small garden, Balboa Park.

This photograph comes from a set that I made during a visit to the San Diego area back in 2013. We were in the Los Angeles Basin, and decided to head south for a short visit. We ended up spending time at the city’s Balboa Park, one of the most impressive city park sites I’ve seen.

At times we simply strolled around the grounds, without any particular immediate agenda. This gave me plenty of opportunities to play with photographic ideas that just cropped up — nothing iconic, and often more about shape and texture and color, as in this photograph of a section of arches in a wall above a garden and colored with both warm and cool tones of light.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Garden Steps

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Garden Steps
Steps follow a curving path down an incline at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Garden Steps. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steps follow a curving path down an incline at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Although it seems odd to me now, this is one of those photographs that I “left behind” at the time I made it. I no longer recall whether that was a matter of becoming distracted by something else or possibly I wasn’t able to see it correctly at the time. I only came across it again recently while doing my shelter-in-place review of my archives of older raw files. I had actually forgotten about the photograph — or, more accurately, a small series of photographs I made of this subject.

The specific location hardly matters, but it is in the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon. My recollection is that as we walked through this part of the garden and descended these steps I paused very briefly to make a few handheld exposures. There were other photographs from that day that seemed took my attention, and I apparently had too little left for this. But when I came upon it last week, it suddenly seemed like it would work in black and white.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Sand Waves

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Sand Waves
Rising waves of sand in soft light, Death Valley National Park

Sand Waves. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rising waves of sand in soft light, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph comes from a memorable visit to a remote location in Death Valley National Park about eight years ago. I was in the park during the first few days of January. I saw far fewer other visitors than I usually encounter there these days, and I experienced some very cold temperatures! A few days earlier the thermometer in my vehicle registered at freezing as I drove below sea level very early one morning. On the morning after I made this photograph I finally got around to checking the temperature at around 9:00AM after the sun had come up, only to discover that it was still in the low twenties!

When I arrived at this location in the late afternoon there was only one other small group of visitors. (They were gone when I came back from photographing, and I had the place completely to myself that night.) I figured out where I would camp that night, and then I grabbed my photography gear and headed out into the nearby landscape of sand with distant vistas of playa and mountains. It was late enough the I soon found myself photographing the dunes in soft, post-sunset light.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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