Tag Archives: dunes

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

Dunes and Sky

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Dunes and Sky
Morning light and clouds, sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Sky. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and clouds, sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

For photographers (and probably for others, too) sand dunes are a source of endless fascination. There is always something interesting, from the smallest scale (footprints of insects?) to the largest, all-compassing landscape. None of this is ever the same twice except in the most general ways. While the general configuration remains from year to year, the specific details change quickly, sometimes as you watch. And because the sand itself is a fairly neutral subject, the effects of light — its angles and qualities and colors — play out in unending ways on the dunes.

As is typical, we had wandered out amongst the dunes before sunrise, beginning to photograph in predawn light and then moving to larger landscape subjects as the first pink sunlight struck distant desert mountains. Before long the sun was up and the light began to lose the early hour color. This can make the scene extremely stark and harsh, but on this morning high clouds muted its intensity and we continued to photograph. I had a vague idea of a photograph combining dune textures and sky in a mostly abstract form, and this area of the dunes provided a subject that fit that concept.

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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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 Interrupted

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Dunes Interrupted
A curving diagonal of rock across sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

Dunes Interrupted. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A curving diagonal of rock across sand dunes, Death Valley National Park

The sand dunes of Death Valley are more complex things than they might appear to be. For example, I have read that beneath their surface they actually hold quite a bit of moisture — quite a contradiction to our intuition about their dryness. (That intuition is based on fact — they can be hot and dry places, and the surface layer of the dunes is quite dry.) At the right times of day and of season they can be cool places, and they support plant and animal life.

These dunes also appear to stand on top of quite un-dune-like features. Around their edges you can find hints. You cross flat playa surface to get to them, and this surface holds abundant evidence of the work of water. In places you can even find areas that mimic perfectly the surfaces of contemporary playas, with their sedimentary formations covered with cracks. Here the edge of what must be a rather old example of this cuts diagonally across the landscape and still manages to poke its edge through the sand.

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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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

Dust Storm, Dunes, Evening Light

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Dust Storm, Dunes, Evening Light
A dust storm rages above sand dunes at the end of the day, Death Valley National Park

Dust Storm, Dunes, Evening Light. Death Valley National Park, California. March 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dust storm rages above sand dunes at the end of the day, Death Valley National Park

This was a wild evening, featuring an apocalyptic combination of tremendously strong winds, huge clouds of blowing sand and dust, periodic downpours of rain, and light that changed constantly from ominous and dark to luminous clouds backlit by sun to threads of virgo, and more. I had never seen quite this combination of conditions in Death Valley at one time.

Photography was quite challenging. Because sunset was approaching (and I continued to photograph into the dusk), it was often quite dark. The screaming winds made it virtually impossible to shoot from the tripod, so I was mostly reduced to bracing my camera against the window frame of my vehicle and working with the camera handheld. In the rough conditions I was forced to work from a distance with a long lens, since photographing inside the windblown clouds of dust and sand was not a good idea. Here the clouds and the dust above the sand dunes momentarily thinned, creating a backlit glow from the low angle sun about to drop behind mountains to the west.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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 and Mountains, Twilight

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Dunes and Mountains, Twilight
Sand dunes and desert mountains in twilight, Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Mountains, Twilight. Death Valley National Park, California. April 27, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sand dunes and desert mountains in twilight, Death Valley National Park

Arriving in Death Valley earlier in the day, we had visited some canyon country that is a bit off the beaten path and then headed back to our home base in the park for the next few days. We got settled in, had some dinner, and headed out to make some photographs, deciding that it would be best on this first evening to photograph nearby.

We made it to an area along the periphery of the dunes before sunset and then continued to photograph during the evening light transition from warm pre-sunset color to the post-sunset blue hour light. Here there was still a bit of a glow from the west, but the sun had already dropped below the Cottonwood mountains, and the light was soft as we finished photographing in the evening stillness.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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