Tag Archives: desert

Morning, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains

Morning, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains

Morning, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photograph of curving Death Valley Dunes in morning light with the Funeral Mountains in the background.

Perhaps closer to the classic “dune photographs” from this area, shot along the top of one of the highest dunes with the line of the dune summit leading toward the Funeral Mountains along the east side of Death Valley. I hadn’t actually intended to shoot a scene like this one, but I ended up on top of a rise in the dunes after shooting the area behind them… and one feels almost obligated to photograph a scene like this one when visiting Death Valley. :-)

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Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki

Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki

Dry Mud Formations, Death Valley Dunes, Mount Tucki. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry mud formations at Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells, with Mount Tucki in the distance.

I came across this scene after I had pretty much finished my morning shoot of the dunes and was starting to head back to my car. These formations are found in the lower areas around the dunes – suggesting to me that they may underly a good portion of the dune area. Mount Tucki, in the distance, it a high point that dominates the landscape behind Stovepipe Wells.

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Death Valley Dunes, Morning

Death Valley Dunes, Morning

Death Valley Dunes, Morning. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light at Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells with the lower slopes of Tucki Mountain in the distance.

This is a different version – a landscape orientation, in this case – of a scene that produced one of my favorite photographs from this trip, a black and white portrait orientation photograph of these dunes with Tucki Mountain in the background and clouds above. This color version focuses more on the texture and warm tones of the sunlit sand itself.

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Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes

Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes

Dawn, Near Death Valley Dunes. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on dried and cracked desert surface near Death Valley Dunes, with the Funeral Mountains in the distance. This photograph was made more or less from behind the dunes, as approached from the Stovepipe Wells direction.

Yet another “dawn behind the dunes” photograph from my April 2008 visit to the Valley. These old cracked mud formations are found in the low areas around the dunes and provide an interesting contrast to the rippled formations of the sand, especially when low angle light brings out the textures.

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