Tag Archives: erosion

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

Layers and Folds

Image Leave a comment
Layers and Folds
The complex geology of badlands terrain, Death Valley National Park.

Layers and Folds. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The complex geology of badlands terrain, Death Valley National Park.

The landscape of Death Valley National Park is extremely varied. The popular imagination first focuses on scenes of sand dunes, the classic signifier of “desert.” But the place is full of canyons, stream beds, surprising instances of water, mountain peaks, and even forests of several types. All of these are special, but scenes like this one may embody one of the the most common elements of this landscape, the exposure of its underlying geology.

The area of this photograph is incredibly complex. It is a maze of small, eroded formations and canyons, all of them interconnected. Underlying this are uplifted layers of material in colors ranging from nearly black to nearly white, interspersed with surprising bits of red, blue, and green. I photographed here early in the morning because the light was softer and richer and because the low angle of the sun entering the scene from the side delineated the eroded features.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Badlands Valley

Image 2 Comments
Badlands Valley
A small wash passes beneath badlands terrain in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

Badlands Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small wash passes beneath badlands terrain in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

There is a lot going on in this photograph of the Death Valley National Park landscape. Early morning light is coming from behind and to the left of the camera position and striking the eroded landforms from the side. Although it is sometime after dawn, it is early enough that the light still has a warm, post-sunrise color. All of the complex structures in the scene are interconnected — they all drain toward the desert wash at the bottom of the frame.

More than almost any other landscape that I know, the appearance of the desert changes radically depending on the direction, quality, and color of the light. I have sequences of photographs made over a half-hour period in which the transition is striking. At first, before dawn, the light is soft and blue-toned. At first light it may become intensely colorful if the sunrise cooperates. A half hour later the color fades toward that familiar desert midday harshness.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Canyon and Strata

Image Leave a comment
Canyon and Strata
A desert wash in a winding badlands canyon leads toward contrasting strata, Death Valley National Park.

Canyon and Strata. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A desert wash in a winding badlands canyon leads toward contrasting strata, Death Valley National Park.

This juxtaposition of very dark and very light layers in this badlands terrain has long fascinated me. Often the contrasts among the various layers are relatively subtle, even where obvious colors are involved — but here we see nearly the darkest forms right next to some of the lightest. The material in the foreground is perhaps closer to the typical coloration.

There is a lot to look at in terrain like this, especially when viewed from a slight elevation. In some ways the largest forms mimic and expand on the smallest. Tiny irregularities combine to produce larger versions of themselves, and then these combine to produce larger gullies, which themselves collect together to form that great washes that drain the landscape.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Fractalscape

Image Leave a comment
Fractalscape
Complex and highly detailed erosion patterns combine with pastel colors in a Death Valley landscape.

Fractalscape. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Complex and highly detailed erosion patterns combine with pastel colors in a Death Valley landscape.

I could probably write a chapter about this photograph, including ideas about color, geology, light, figuring out how to “see” particular places, and more. I’ll keep it simple though, and only briefly mention a few things. This is a photograph from an area of Death Valley that I had previously written off as being — wait for it! — “uninteresting.” This is not the first time that I’ve had to eat my words about such evaluations after going back and realizing that the problem wasn’t the landscape — it was me!

The light was rather special — the “first light” of early morning, with its warm tones, but it was also softened and diffused by high clouds. This briefly revealed some unusual pastel colors in the formations They contrasted with the blue tones in the shadows. The scene also reveals the highly detailed and “fractal” nature of landscapes like this, where the bigger elements can be seen as larger versions of the smallest details.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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