Tag Archives: dunes

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

Creosote, Sea Of Dunes

April 9, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sea of sand dunes extends to distant desert mountains behind a cluster of creosote bushes

This photograph comes from those moments just before sunrise on the dunes, when there is not yet any direct, intense light. Instead the light is soft and diffused, and blue tones are seen in the distance and in shadows. We had arrived in this area earlier, after perhaps a 20 minute walk that began in near-darkness. This is not necessarily time for slow and contemplative photography — conditions evolve quickly, and I often have to make some fairly quick decisions before the light changes or is gone. Moments after making this photograph, for example, that direct light did arrive from the right, and the scene was completely transformed.

Sand dunes are remarkable and surprising places. I think the first impression for most people is of the sand itself — its extent, its shapes, the variations and texture and color, and (of course!) how difficult it is to walk across it. It is hard to imagine a more perfect canvas for the play of light. The dunes are not intrinsically very colorful, but they do a remarkable job of picking up color and light from their surroundings. Beyond the sand itself, the things that appear in the dunes are also fascinating. A close look reveals evidence of the passage of unseen animals, in spring flower blossoms may collect in hollows, and somehow plants manage to survive and sometimes prosper in this forbidding environment. In Death Valley creosote bushes grow throughout many of the dunes. Some of them can appear almost lush at certain times of the year — with new leaves and many small, yellow flowers. Others, like those on this small hill, seem to be barely hanging on to life.

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

Dunes, First Light

April 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First light on Death Valley sand dunes

No matter how many times I experience it — and I’ve experienced it a lot! — the instant when the first sunlight suffuses the landscape is always magical. Invariably, it sneaks up on me, even though I plan to be there for it and have probably calculated the precise time of the light’s arrival. Perhaps it is because I’m engaged in photographing the pre-sunrise light, a phenomenon that also is transitory. To this day, it still somehow surprises me when this light arrives in complete silence and stillness. Somehow it seems like there should be music or a rising wind… but it is just the light.

Sand dunes provide unending possibilities for photography, and they are a remarkable canvas on which the light can paint. In the middle of the day this sand would be a sort of bland off-white color. But for a few moments at the start and end of the day the sand takes on almost gaudy colors of sky and sunlight, and the soft shadows both emphasize the forms of the dunes and produce their own shapes and lines. Non-photographers probably wonder how we can force ourselves out of bed a couple hours before dawn and drive or hike long distances the pre-dawn darkness. We wonder how the rest of the world can sleep through it!

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

Dunes, Mountains, Haze

April 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Afternoon winds and blowing sand soften the contours of sand dunes and desert mountains

For us, the drive to Death Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area is always a long one, even when we break it into sections as we did on this trip. We came through Trona and up the Panamint Valley, then following the newly reopened Wild Rose Canyon Road up into the mountains. Along the way to made a few stops in this range, and finally ended up in Death Valley itself in the middle afternoon. After getting settled in following the drive it is very tempting to just be lazy! However, we were there (mostly) to make photographs, so we got to work.

For me, the first photography of almost any trip amounts, to some extent, to a sort of warm-up exercise. I may (or may not) have a particular photograph or subject in mind, but it is important to get the camera out, head into the field, and start making photographs right away, if for no other reason than to “prime the pump” for the rest of the visit. We we headed to the dunes, stopping at a place where few others go, shouldered tripods, packs and cameras, and headed out to see what we could find. I had my sights on some low dunes where various vegetation grows, but along the way I looked toward the more distant higher dunes and spotted this beautiful backlight and haze as wind began to blow sand into the air from the dune ridges.

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

Dunes, Mountains, Dust Storm, Rain

May 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening dust storm and rain in the evening in Death Valley

During the nearly two decades since my first visit to Death Valley I have seen my share of exceptions conditions there — a wildflower “bloom of the century,” snow on more than one occasion, unreal golden hour color, wild animals of various sorts. Once we even photographed wildflowers in a snow storm… in Death Valley. But this day was one of the wildest I have experienced, and the evening was like nothing I had seen or even imagined before. Much earlier in the day we photographed high in the Panamint Mountains, and by the middle of the day we could tell that a big dust storm was brewing. The atmosphere was opaque and glowing, and before long tendrils of blowing dust were passing high above the mountains. By the time we descended back into Death Valley a full-blown storm was underway. I had never seen as much dust or experienced winds quite so strong. In places this was no mere dust storm — it was a sand storm and even a pebble storm on at least one occasion. We finally gave up and headed to Stovepipe Wells and shut ourselves in our room as huge winds howled around the building and sand came into our room through every crack in the door or windows.

Hours later the wind began to subside and a bit of light appeared, so I decided to head out and see what I could find. I took a little-used gravel road up to a high spot overlooking a section of the Valley and waited to see what would happen. The dust storm was stilling in progress, but occasional breaks in the wind allowed me to make some photographs – only to be interrupted by huge gusts and more blowing dust. As the dust storm began to thin a bit it became apparent that there were storm clouds above the Valley, too, and — I’m not making this up! — as golden hour light began to arrive I watched thunder showers begin to drop sheets of rain onto the mountains above the still-raging dust clouds blowing along the Valley floor. “Apocalyptic” was the word that came to mind when I tried to describe what I was seeing. We respond to landscapes in many ways — they can be pretty, beautiful (not the same thing!), quiet, peaceful, static, dynamic, and more. But this landscape and these conditions provoked a powerful mixture of wonder and amazement and a kind of fear in the face of a landscape full of forces that made me feel very small.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: dunes

Creosote, Sea Of Dunes

Dunes, First Light

Dunes, Mountains, Haze

Dunes, Mountains, Dust Storm, Rain

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