Tag Archives: evening

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

Golden Evening Primrose

May 6, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Golden Evening Primrose blossoms, Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

Once we figured out that this was turning out to be a rather good wildflower year in Death Valley—rather than the expected complete bust—we began to see wildflowers everywhere. Although there were not too many at the lowest elevations in the most arid and desolate parts of the valley itself, up in the surrounding desert mountains there were a lot of flowers, and in some places the display was downright abundant, with the colorful patches on hillsides visible from a good distance away.

It helped that on what was probably our best wildflower photography day there was a winter storm that not only brought some rain and a bit of snow to the higher elevations but, more importantly, brought clouds and the soft light conducive to flower photography. As we would walk or drive along we might spot a bit of color and get out to look around. Invariably, as soon as we started photographing that color that we first spotted we would look more closely and find more and more examples and more and more kinds of flowers. What seemed like it might be a quick “stop to photograph the yellow flowers,” inevitably turned into a half hour or an hour exploration of a world of small and colorful desert flowers.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Building 237, Early Evening

April 26, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light on the face of Building 237, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California

This is one of the rarest of photographs from me—a daytime photo from Mare Island! Although I have photographed here for quite a few years, virtually all of my photographs from this location have been made at night, when the industrial environment of the place is transferred by darkness and artificial light into something mysterious.

By day, many of the subjects that I find so interesting and even colorful at night are often quite bland and boring. Building 237 is the subject of one of my favorite photographs from Mare Island, “Yellow Buildings, Shadows, Moving Clouds.” In that photograph, these buildings glow with an intensely yellow light from nearby artificial lightning, and the motion of clouds during the long exposure creates an aura in the dark sky above them. But during the daytime, the color of the buildings is a somewhat faded and drab sort of yellow-tan shade, and this is even more washed out in typical daytime light. On this visit, largely because the sun sets later by the clock during daylight savings time, we found ourselves ready to photograph well before it was dare, so I decided to go out and look for golden hour light as the day ended. Here that light subtly colors the front face of building 237, whose color contrasts with the cold, blue tones of the next-door building that is already in full shadow.

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

Desert Wash, Evening Light

April 10, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft evening light shines on alluvial fan and a desert wash below Artist Palette, Death Valley National Park

Late on this April Fools Day, Death Valley played a bit of a trick on us. Earlier we had made a big trek through a back-country area, spending most of the day driving gravel roads and making photographs. Finishing this adventure we returned to our lodgings, took a brief break, downloaded some files from cameras, and started thinking about where to go for the evening. I find it very difficult to plan too far in advance in Death Valley, especially during the times of year when I typically visit. So much depends on the particular conditions of weather and light. An incoming dust storm suggests certain locations and certain ways of shooting, clouds suggest different approaches, and clear skies yet others. On this afternoon we had mostly clear skies, but with some clouds over ridges, notably above the high peaks of the Panamint Range.

Taking it all into consideration, it seemed to me like it might be a good evening to head south in the main valley and look for evening light on flats and hills. We drove a bit south and stopped to make a few photographs, and as I got out of the car I commented on how still the air was. As soon as these words left my lips a breeze began to stir, and by the time we finished and got back into the car the wind was becoming a bit more noticeable. As we headed south the wind continued to rise, and the shadow of the clouds above the Panamints began to stretch across the valley toward the eastern hills. As we continued south I stopped a couple of times for views that I caught out of the corner of my eye, and each time the wind was stronger, soon rising to the level where it was becoming difficult to photograph. I thought we might just outpace the oncoming cloud shadow and catch a bit of evening light along the base of the mountains along Artists Drive, so we headed up there. We stopped at a rise overlooking rugged terrain and stepped out… into what now felt like a full gale. But there was golden light glancing across the gravel wash, so we made a few photographs before getting back into the car to head toward Artist Palette. (Believe it or not, I have never photographed that feature before, and I really needed something for the archive.) But before we could get there the cloud shadow stretched to our position and the golden light was gone. I looked up at the clouds above the crest of the Panamints and saw a hole in the clouds below the band that was blocking the light and guessed that we might just maybe get one last beam of light, and with that in mind we high-tailed it to Artist Palette. Just as we got out of the car and set up cameras and tripods, that light did arrive in particularly impressive fashion, and we had about 1/12 of a golden hour before it was gone. I worked quickly, getting a few shots of the main feature but then focusing on other nearby hills and washes, including this one stretching below our location and toward the main valley.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Drifting Fog

March 6, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter evening fog drifts among forest trees, Yosemite National Park

Winter is a special time in Yosemite Valley, and during the first weekend of March it was special for all the usual reasons and a few others. The Yosemite Renaissance XXIX opening reception opening took place on Friday and the Range of Light Film Festival was going on all weekend. Not only did this provide opportunities to view beautiful interpretations of the Sierra and the park by a wide range of visual artists, but it also meant that the place was full of painters, sculptures, photographers, and film-makers, among whom were a good number of personal friends. It seemed like wherever I went I found people I knew. Many were doing their work, but there was a relaxed quality that led to plenty of sitting on rocks, looking at views, conversations, and even a few dinners.

But even without all of that, the Valley seems to me to be at almost its most attractive at this time of year. We arrived on a rainy late afternoon, with snow falling along the upper reaches of the Valley. Clouds and fog and mist were everywhere, blocking the light one moment and then moving to allow bits of light here and there to highlight ridges, trees, cliffs, and peaks. Even photographers who usually shoot somewhere else headed to familiar lookouts such as Tunnel View, and I found myself there more than once. For me, the primary attractions of that place at this time of year — in addition to running into friends and yakking it up — are the vignettes of bits of cloud-shrouded ridges and trees above and the frequent fogs floating through the forest on the Valley floor. So I put on a long lens and pointed the camera either up or down towards these subjects and watched the show. As I was photographing the fog drifting among trees down in the Valley, as in this photograph, I remarked to a nearby photographer friend that this subject forced me to toss out any attempt to work slowly and thoughtfully and methodically. The fog was inconstant motion among the trees and momentary compositions would coalesce in one or another part of the Valley below, only to disappear as quickly as they had appeared. In the time it takes to carefully frame and compose an image the momentary subject would simply disappear, either become completely obscured or else losing its magic as the fog thinned. Quick and instinctive work was and is the only thing that works here!

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: evening

Golden Evening Primrose

Building 237, Early Evening

Desert Wash, Evening Light

Forest, Drifting Fog

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