Tag Archives: dawn

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

Sunrise Wave Cloud

April 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A wave cloud develops above Death Valley mountains at sunrise

When it comes to desert skies, it can be hard to find just-right conditions. Often the skies at Death Valley are simply clear, with few or no clouds aside from contrails from passing jets. And when there are clouds during the dawn and dusk hours when color potential is at its greatest, more distant clouds can block the light that would create the bright colors. This is especially true in the evening in Death Valley, where it is not uncommon for there to be thicker clouds in the moister regions to the west at sunset.

The latter situation was in play on this morning. In fact, I had originally planned to photograph south of this location. I had driven there and started to set up in the near darkness, only to realize that a fairly thick cloud deck was not going to clear and that it was going to block the morning light. I had a backup plan, and when I arrived at this spot a good distance to the north there was a break in the clouds. This color comes quickly and doesn’t last long — you more or less have to be ready for it before it is visible, though you may get a hint of developing color from clouds far off and near the horizon. Here a wave cloud is forming over Tucki Mountain, with a few more lenticular clouds out over the Cottonwood Range and beyond.

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

Predawn Clouds Above The Black Mountains

April 18, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lenticular clouds build over the Black Mountains before dawn, Death Valley National Park

Death Valley can be a tough place in general and a tough place for photography in particular. My recent trip in April of this year might be a case in point. The photography was not easy, and I faced different sorts of challenges almost every day. During the morning and evening hours when I typically look for “golden light” subjects, I had rather thick clouds on almost each day. Wind is often a challenge in the park, and this trip was no exception. And with the wind comes dust — yes, I dealt with dust storms on multiple days. On one morning I arrived at what I thought was my location in pre-dawn murky light, loaded up a pack, and wandered out into the landscape… only to realize once the light came that I was in the wrong place! While this sort of thing can make the photography edge a bit more difficult, I know that it comes with the territory, so I’m philosophical about it. If you are out there enough to encounter astonishing conditions, it is not a surprise when you find yourself at the opposite end of the bell curve on occasion. And when this does happen, if I just open myself to the terrain and look more carefully I can almost always find something.

On my second-to-last day of photography in the park I packed up my camp and left one of the popular campgrounds, with a plan of putting myself in a more isolated location, one of several that I had in mind. However, as I drove up the Valley a storm wind began to rise from the south, and soon clouds of dust and sand were filling the air and blowing north towards the places I thought I would visit. I wasn’t in the mood for camping in a dust storm so I switched gears and decided to head up into the Panamint Range where I thought the terrain might give me some protection. I arrived and set up my “camp” (which, in this case, was mostly my vehicle, in which I would roll out a sleeping bag), and almost immediately clouds filled the sky and a strong wind raced through the campsite. I hunkered down, at some dinner, and realized that this was not going to be a photography evening. The next morning, my final in the park on this trip, I was up and out of the campground at around 5:00, heading out on a gravel road to a high place with a grand panorama. As the first light appeared it became clear that the clouds had not gone away, and my hopes of a colorful sunrise were not going to be rewarded. I arrived at the destination to find that gale-force winds were raking the summit ridge. But I was there, I had my camera, I figured something might happen, so I got out and watched the sky lighten. Soon I saw this remarkable lenticular cloud formation to the southwest above the Black Mountains.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Ground, Fog, Birds, Sky

April 8, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of geese takes to the air above a fog bank at dawn

This might seem almost like a photograph of nothing, but I don’t see it quite that way. Arriving very early on a winter morning at one of my favorite bird areas in the Central Valley, I found it quite foggy. It wasn’t so foggy that I couldn’t see, but the atmosphere near the ground was opaque enough to limit my view to perhaps a few hundred feet, especially along the ground that was shrouded by this tule fog.

Before long a huge flock of geese lifted off from behind the low fog and streamed across by view from one side to the other, just about the fog cloud. Because of the distance to the birds their cries were muted and, oddly, everything seemed almost still and quiet even as what may have been thousands of birds were in the air. My idea for this photograph is to make it into a very large print, where the layers may have an imposing scale reminiscent of actually being there.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Dawn Birdscape

April 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Flocks of Ross’s geese take to the foggy dawn sky above California’s Central Valley

I arrived at one of my favorite migratory bird locations before dawn. It was foggy, but the tule fog was already beginning to thin even as the first light came to the sky. Often when I arrive I hear nearby flocks as soon as I get out of my car, but on this morning the birds all seemed to be a bit further off in the distance. In fact, my initial inclination was to photograph landscape, since it didn’t seem like there were all that many birds around..

I went ahead and got ready to make some landscape photographs in the fog as dawn came closer — it seemed like one of those mornings when the fog was shallow enough that the colors of sunrise sky might suffuse the scene. But the fog was thick enough that it was difficult to find subjects to anchor the landscape… until a large flock of geese began to take to the sky just beyond a few scattered bushes and small trees. I quickly swung the camera in that direction and photographed as the flock rose into the colorful, foggy sky.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: dawn

Predawn Clouds Above The Black Mountains

Dawn Birdscape

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