Tag Archives: escalante

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Tree and Canyon Walls

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Cottonwood Tree and Canyon Walls
Cottonwood Tree and Canyon Walls

Cottonwood Tree and Canyon Walls. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. October 24, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red sandstone canyon walls tower above a lone cottonwood tree with early fall colors

This tree is becoming my favorite (or maybe only second favorite…) tree in this part of Utah. It grows in the bottom of a canyon in a place that requires a bit of hiking — and a bit of driving — to access. It is perhaps not all that much better than hundreds or thousands of other trees in such places, but it happens to be one that I saw and photographed!

A group of photographers walked down this canyon on a beautiful October day when sunlight filtered down into the canyon from high above. We were in no hurry, and we frequently stopped to work a particular subject and often separated as each of us focused on his or her personal discoveries. This section of the canyon is one of those where you have route options — you could either walk down the bottom of the canyon in the creek bed (which I did on my walk back out) or you could take a slight shortcut up and across the higher ground on the inside of one of the bends in the canyon. For no particular reason that I can recall now, I decided to take the higher route in this spot and as a result I ended up with this view of the lone cottonwood tree tucked into the canyon at the base of this gigantic sandstone cliff, the intensity of the color of its autumn foliage increased by the soft, reflected canyon light.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Redrock Valley and Potholes, Evening

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Redrock Valley and Potholes, Evening
Redrock Valley and Potholes, Evening

Redrock Valley and Potholes, Evening. Utah, October 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A string of potholes descends along the bottom of a red rock valley in evening light

We had spent perhaps a couple of hours photographing this landscape, starting in the early evening when there was still direct light from the sun through high, thin clouds, and then continuing as the sun dropped behind the tall ridge to our west. There was a lot to photograph in this red rock landscape, and we alternated between working slowly when the light became less vibrant and working quickly when it momentarily become luminous.

As the evening continued and the sun set, things slowed down and the photographic work seemed to lead toward an inevitable and quiet conclusion as we spent more time just looking or talking with one another. I didn’t feel like I was quite done with this particular landscape yet, and I found myself near the top of this curving red rock valley that led past a series of potholes and into a narrow gap toward the flatlands below as the last post-sunset glow turned the scene red.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Trees, Potholes

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Cottonwood Trees, Potholes
Cottonwood Trees, Potholes

Cottonwood Trees, Potholes. Utah. October 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cottonwood trees grow in potholes in the curving sandstone terrain

In the evening of our first day camped in this somewhat remote Utah location, we left camp and headed to a nearby sandstone landscape featuring the sorts of gullies, potholes, rounded domes, steep inclines, and curving patterns that are so common in this part of the world. Later we would walk further into the landscape, but on this first evening we only had time for a short visit.

The group walked up a steep slope and came to a landscape that is perhaps familiar to many who know this region, with some features that are often photographed by those who visit. The light was “complicated” — at times a beautiful glow came through high, thin clouds, but at times the cover thickened enough to truly mute the light. It is tempting — unavoidable, actually — to photograph certain subjects here in the ways that I have seen before. On the other hand, I also like to see such subjects for what they are and not just for what others seen in them. Wandering around the curving sandstone and skirting the edges of large potholes, I looked for juxtapositions of these rounded shapes with variations in color and with the cottonwood trees that grow sparsely here. The foreground tree seems to be at just about the peak of autumn color, even though the other tree a short distance away is still almost completely green.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah

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Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah
Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah

Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 24, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fallen oak leaves on the moist floor of a Utah canyon

I found these newly fallen autumn oak leaves at the bottom of a narrow canyon in the southern Utah back-country. The spot is a sort of “half Subway” (referencing the iconic location in Zion National Park — though this is not near there) with a tube-like formation cut into the rock on one side of the narrow canyon as the creek is forced to bend around massive rocks. Near the end of this curve is a section of smooth red rock that must have a spring above, since water seems to drip down it continuously.

All of these factors created a very unusual and striking little vignette in this spot. The tan leaves are dry, and lighter than the underlying rock. The rock is actually within the typical range of red canyon rock, though perhaps tending a bit toward burgundy coloration. But the colors a skewed by several other factors. Being at the bottom of a deep canyon, the light here has taken on the warm red quality from reflecting off of the canyon walls. Mixed in with that red is some blue reflected from the band of open blue sky straight above. A close look reveals some sharper reflections from brightly lit areas high on the canyon walls.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.