Tag Archives: escalante

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

Roots and Rock

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Roots and Rock
Roots and Rock

Roots and Rock. Utah. October 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dried roots of a desert plant wind across bare sandstone

On the scale of “plants trying to survive in hostile locations,” this one seems almost off the scale. It seemed to me that the plant had died, but I could be wrong and it might simply have been dormant. However, apparently in an effort to find water and nourishment, it had gone to extreme efforts. The plant was rooted in a small, shallow depression in the rock that is filled with sand. From there it had grown onto the rock and then continued to stretch in that direction until it was mostly on the hard surface of sandstone.

I was intrigued by the growth pattern of the plant itself, but I was also fascinated by the form of its barren gray branches (or roots?) as they stretched across the rock, and by the complex relationships between the plant’s form and the lines and texture of the rock.

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

Calf Creek Canyon

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Calf Creek Canyon
Calf Creek Canyon

Calf Creek Canyon. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 27, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors along Calf Creek in the bottom of Calf Creek Canyon, Utah

Anyone who has spent much time in this part of Utah probably knows this view along highway 12 between Boulder and Escalante. They (you?) probably also remember this section of the road well, too, since it follows a rather remarkable route as it drops to the Escalante River from plateau country to the west, rises up a narrow canyon from the Calf Creek and Escalante River confluence, and then runs along the top of a thin bit of high country between very deep canyons.

I drove it more than once on a recent visit, but only stopped to photograph on the final traverse after leaving Boulder to head west and meet family at Zion. It was morning, and I had more time than I needed for the drive, especially since I wanted to arrive in Zion at an hour when the light would be good along Mt. Carmel Highway. As I looked down from the road into the Calf Creek drainage I simply had to stop and make a few photographs. The light was slightly softened by high clouds and the fall color of the cottonwood trees and other foliage along the creek bed was at its peak. A bit of haze accentuated the distance as the canyon and its complex geology meandered toward its meeting with the Escalante a few mile further on.

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

Dry Bush and Shadow

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Dry Bush and Shadow
Dry Bush and Shadow

Dry Bush and Shadow. Utah. October 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dried-up bush casts its shadow on a landscape of red rock and sand

This is another “intimate landscape” from the Utah backcountry, one that I spotted after setting up camp and heading out to explore our “back yard,” a nearby landscape of gullies, cottonwoods, a wash, and plenty of sandstone. I took a little walk that was more or less a warm up, a first effort at engaging my ability to see this landscape beyond the most obvious (and quite impressive!) features and to look at smaller things.

I wandered up a wash that passed by our camp, and I soon saw a small sandstone amphitheater at the head of the small valley and off to one side. After spending some time there, I ran into one of my fellow photographers, who mentioned that he had just been up on top of a nearby sandstone dome. That sounded interesting, so I headed over that way, where I found a mostly barren landscape of red rock with sand collected in flat areas, and plants that were trying — and sometimes failing — to find sustenance in this harsh place.

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

A Story in Red Rock

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A Story in Red Rock
A Story in Red Rock

A Story in Red Rock. Utah. October 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Broken rocks spread across a layer of sandstone in evening light

This is another photograph from my first evening on this trip in this particular part of Utah, from a day when I had met up with friends and traveled out to find a campsite where we would stay for the next few days — our base camp for exploring red rock and canyons and for sharing meals and conversation. After setting up camp and settling in, we headed out for our first evening of photography, and would up in a nearby landscape of sculpted sandstone.

We began shooting mostly together, finding and exploring some obvious and quite impressive subjects — each working on his or her own photographs but staying mostly in a group. Eventually we began to split up and wander off to do our own individual exploration. Later in the evening I ended up in an area of massive sandstone benches and ridges and potholes, and as the dusk came on and the light turned red/burgundy I was above a small sandstone canyon descending toward the sagebrush country below. This is a simple scene, but I like to think about a few secrets that it may reveal. It is easy to see such landscapes as being static, but the fact is that they are always changing, though mostly on a time scale that is much longer than that of our lives. But occasionally there are obvious clues, and here the clearest is the scattering of fractured rock that has failed from the seemingly solid face in the upper part of the scene, a hint about how it came to be that the lower flat surface runs into the upper wall.

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.