Tag Archives: dunes

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

Sand Storm, Sunset Virga

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Sand Storm, Sunset Virga
Virga drops from sunset clouds above a desert sand storm

Sand Storm, Sunset Virga. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Virga drops from sunset clouds above a desert sand storm.

This photograph represents Death Valley as a place of “apocalyptic beauty.” Most of the time this landscape is quiet, and the predominant impressions it makes on me are about stillness and immense space. But it can also produce incredibly dynamic, powerful, and even intimidating conditions, sometimes without a whole lot of prior notice.

This scene is a conjunction of three conditions that I’ve only experienced together a few times there. A weather front was moving through and trying to drop rain on the landscape — here the clouds are releasing virga, curtains of rainfall that don’t make it to the ground. Extreme winds from the southwest were whipping up a sand storm that was rising into the Amargosa Mountains to the east of the valley. (I was standing in tremendous winds and blowing sand when I made this photograph.) Then all of this came together with a brief moment of sunset light as the rain was clearing from the west to leave an open sky in the direction of the setting sun.

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.

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

Dunes, Creosote, Sunrise Light

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Sunrise light shines on blossoming creosote bushes among undulating sand dunes

Dunes, Creosote, Sunrise Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise light shines on blossoming creosote bushes among undulating sand dunes.

Yes, this is yet another photograph of dunes in early morning light. I admit it, I cannot resist. (We probably spent more time than usual in the dunes on this trip because recent heavy rains had closed off access to a number of the non-dune locations I would have liked to visit.)

I made this photograph a few minutes later than some of the others I have shared. The strikingly warm light of dawn was already transitioning towards the more neutral daytime colors, but the sun was still low enough to send its light across the ridges of dunes and leave the valleys between them in the softer, shaded light. This small group of creosote bushes caught in the light was beginning to blossom.

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.

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

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

Dunes At Dawn

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Dunes At Dawn
Dawn light and shadow patterns on sand dunes, Death Valley

Dunes At Dawn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light and shadow patterns on sand dunes, Death Valley.

Other recent photographic posts here have mentioned the astonishing transition of desert light between the pre-dawn twilight and the post-dawn light of daytime, and especially the rapid changes that occur right around sunrise itself. I made this photograph during the first moments after the direct sun had made its way onto the dunes after rising above a mountain range far to the east. At this point the light is still warm, but significantly less so that during that first instant of direct light, and the shadows still are deeply blue from the color of early morning sky.

The small stand of foreground creosote is emblematic of one of the astonishing things about sand dunes, namely that there is so much living stuff in a place that first appears to be completely inhospitable to life. It is a challenging environment, and plants are few and far between, but they do manage to survive. In the springtime the permanent plants such as the creosote bushes are briefly embellished by the appearance of seasonal flowers, at least during years with sufficient rain.

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.

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

First Light, Dunes and Creosote

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First Light, Dunes and Creosote
Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

First Light, Dunes and Creosote. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

I love early morning in the sand dunes. When photographing there I typically arrive well before sunrise, when there is just a hint of light in the sky. In Death Valley this is mostly a very quiet time of the day, often with few other visitors, when the winds have died down yet the temperatures are still comfortable. The ideal morning is preceded by a windy afternoon the day before and into the evening, which may wipe away many of the footprints from the previous day’s visitors. However, walking into the dunes I always find new “footprints” — of mice and reptiles and other desert residents.

The transition of morning dusk light to full sunlight always amazes me, even after experiencing it many times. At first things move slowly though inexorably as the overall sky begins to gradually lighten. Well before actual sunrise there is quite a bit of light, but it is soft and gentle light, generally with a blue tint from the pre-sunrise sky. (I made this photograph at just about this point.) Then the pace accelerates as the first direct sunlight strikes some high point, generally to my west, and the light begins to transition to the saturated reddish colors of sunrise and work its way to lower elevations. By this time I’m engaged in photographing and usually working fast as the light changes very quickly. As the sun rises above the horizon or a mountain ridge a brief moment of soft, direct light begins, but the light quickly becomes intense and the difference between shadow and highlights becomes very large. Before long the coloration of this intense light diminishes and conditions move toward “just plain daylight.” I photograph a bit longer… and then it is time for a break!

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.

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