Tag Archives: curves

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

Dunes, Soft Light

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Dunes, Soft Light
Details of sand dunes in soft evening light, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Dunes, Soft Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Details of sand dunes in soft evening light, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Sand dunes are fascinating subjects, both for their appearance as part of the larger landscape and because they contain infinite varieties of smaller subjects, textures, colors, and variations in light. I made a wild guess recently that I’ve probably been to Death Valley perhaps twenty-five times. You’d think that I might start to tire of the dunes or run out of things to photograph there… but there’s no sign of this happening.

We went to these dunes late in the day and had them entirely to ourselves. The light was challenging, as clouds were building to the west. As the clouds moved the light increased and decreased, but overall it remained quite soft. But this just provided another variation on how we can photograph this subject, and the soft light reveals some subtle details that can get lost in brighter conditions. I made some post-processing choices here that highlight the variations in light and the soft forms of the dunes.

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

Sea of Dunes

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Sea of Dunes
Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sea of Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sand dunes occupy a tiny fraction of Death Valley National Park but are one of the most common photographic subjects. They loom large in our sense of the place, perhaps because sand dunes evoke of a sort of alien landscape. But they also present a visual blank slate that is open to diverse interpretations. We can approach them as “grand landscapes” or as intimate landscapes, as abstractions of shape and color, as backdrops for photographs of people and wildlife, and more. I think I began by seeing them as grand landscapes but now find it more interesting to seek out little fragments of form and light.

Perhaps because it makes everyone a bit uneasy we don’t speak a lot about the extent to which photographers treat dunes as a photographic starting point for visual experimentation. By this I mean to acknowledge that most interesting, compelling photographs of sand dunes involve a lot of “interpretation,” much of it done via post-processing techniques. To be sure, I regard this as conceptually legitimate and even necessary, and I embrace it in my own photography— I egard post-processing to be as integral to photograph-making as setting up the camera and clicking the shutter.

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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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, Photographs: Southern California

Dune Study, Evening

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Dune Study, Evening
An interpretation of soft dune forms and colors in evening light, Death Valley National Park.

Dune Study, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

An interpretation of soft dune forms and colors in evening light, Death Valley National Park.

When photographing sand dunes I spend a lot of time looking for just the right combination of shading, texture, line, curve, and color. But in the end, it mostly comes down to the light — the light that colors the sand, creates the shading, and illuminates those lines and curves. It seems like every photograph in the sand dunes is an ephemeral, one-time thing, and the particular combinations of conditions can never be precisely replicated. Unlike subjects where the primary elements of the scene don’t change much, each visit to the dunes takes me to different places and photographs.

On a late-March trip to Death Valley National Park, I revisited a location that I had photographed with great success a couple of months ago. This time Patty accompanied me, and I wanted her to experience the light that I had worked with on the earlier visit. That did not happen. Two months ago the evening sky was clear, and warm-colored sunset light illuminated the western-facing dunes. This time the sky was filled with clouds and the light was soft and the colors far less intense, producing an entirely different and subtle experience.

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.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Creosote, Shadowed Dunes

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Creosote, Shadowed Dunes
Creosote plant in sunlight, backed by shadowed sand dunes.

Creosote, Shadowed Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Creosote plant in sunlight, backed by shadowed sand dunes.

Sand dune landscapes provide all sorts of surprises. After seeing many photographs of impressive blowing sand and dust storms, you might think that is the norm — but most of the time the dunes are quiet and still. In the daytime there often doesn’t seem to be a lot going on in a visual sense. But go there at the earliest and latest moments of the day, and the light changes so quickly that it is almost impossible to keep up. Here there was only a brief moment when the soft light fell on the dune and the creosote plant and left the further dunes in soft, cool-toned light.

It is common to think of landscape photography as a slow and deliberate process. In fact, at times and with certain subjects it can be, and the photographer may have a lot of time to look and contemplate. But in this edge-of-day light things happen so quickly that photography can become a kind of action sport. The light does something “over there” for a brief moment, but when I look up something new is happening elsewhere. I turn my attention, quickly make a photograph or two, and right away some new combination of form and light emerges. And this whole dynamic show itself only lasts for a short time between midday bright (and often harsh) light and darkness.

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.

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.