Tag Archives: face

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

Cottonwood Grove and Cliff, Autumn

February 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A cottonwood grove in golden fall colors, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

In late October these bright yellow-gold cottonwood trees seem to be almost everywhere in Utah, albeit at slightly different stages of color development. Some are still mostly green with just a hint of yellow, while others have lost most of their leaves. From what I can tell, the difference in the pattern of change relate to things such as elevation, whether the trees are in sheltered canyons – in Zion Canyon they seem to change much later – or out in the open, and other causes that I don’t yet understand. One thing I do know: Between the aspens, which change color several weeks earlier, and the cottonwoods it seems like the entire month of October produces a lot of fall color. From what I hear it even extends into November, though I haven’t been there during that month to see it for myself.

On this day we began early with very cold hike into a portion of the Escalante River, which runs for quite a good distance through this section of Utah. Before the day was over we were challenged by strong wind, more cold, and eventually even a bit of light rain, but early on when I made this photograph the conditions were still bit less challenging, at least as far as the wind was concerned. Here the water course ran very close to the cliff wall, and clumps of golden cottonwoods grew between the water and the sandstone face. Although some direct light was beginning to strike the upper canyon walls and reflect light down into the canyon, here at the bottom along the creek the light was still soft and diffused.

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

Pines and Sandstone Cliff

January 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sparse forest of pine trees in front of a towering sandstone cliff, Zion National Park

This could be one of those “don’t forget to look around” photographs – a reminder to look beyond the most obvious thing that you (and others) might have stopped for. The photograph is from Zion National Park, made on my late October visit when we passed through on the way to shoot further east in Utah. The specific location is a well-known automobile pull-out that features a large and impressive nearby geological feature, with signage around the parking lot mostly about that thing. And it is an interesting and worthy site, but one that I’ve struggled to see as a photograph. In fact, the whole area right near here has been a bit this way – a very interesting place where I’ve stopped a few times, but also one where I’ve had a difficult time seeing how to photograph the attractive features found here.

From this location, trees growing on a middle-distance rise can be seen. I’ve also looked at them before and wondered how or whether they could make a photograph. Those trees are the trees in this photograph. What seemed different this time was the result of interesting and changing lighting conditions. The light was coming from the side and a bit behind the trees, so it highlighted the branches and even created just a tiny bit of that glow that I often look for with this subject. In addition, there were broken clouds about, and they were being blown past fairly quickly by a brisk wind – so the light was in a constant state of change. One moment the trees were in a cloud shadow, and the next they were in sun. When they were in sun, the foreground and background might be in sun, too, or in shade, or even some combination of the two. I love these conditions since so many things are (fleetingly) possible with the light. My approach is to make some guesses about what might with the light, find a composition that I think will work, and then pay careful attention to what is happening. This photograph was exposed during a lucky instant when the clouds shaded the background sandstone cliff, and the slightly cloud-muted sun shone on the trees.

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

Single-Leaf Ash, Green and Yellow Leaves

January 20, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A single-leaf ash in a narrow sandstone-walled canyon begins its autumn transition from green to yellow, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Now, coming back to this photograph quite a while after I made it, I distinctly remember that the gradient from yellow to green of these leaves caught my attention when I saw this small plant growing out of a crack in the water carved sandstone of this canyon wall. I’m often attracted by dark trunks and branches like those on this specimen, especially when they are seen against a background such as this pink sandstone with the patches of darker, lichen-covered rock.

The photograph was made in the same canyon in this national monument where I made a number of other photographs on this same very productive day – productive despite the difficult weather conditions, which were cold, windy, and a bit cloudy. Deep in the canyon and against this canyon wall, the best light is often that from completely clear daytime sky, since that sort of light reflects the best off of the canyon walls and carries with it the warm colors of the rock. Given that this was a tremendously windy day, the lack of leaf blur in this photograph indicates that it was made in a slightly sheltered area of the canyon and, no doubt, by waiting to shoot between the gusts.

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

Hanging Branch with Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall

December 9, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A branch covered in yellow autumn leaves hands over a dark sandstone wall, Zion National Park

This is another photograph made in a short slot canyon in the high country of Zion National Park. At this point, it may be clear that I have a bit of an obsession with plants in front of rock of various sorts, and I was intrigued by this bundle of branches covered with yellow fall leaves that was dangling down onto the rocky wall of sculpted sandstone in this canyon and the way that the branch shapes were juxtaposed with the horizontal patterns in the rock and the diagonal fracture dropping from left to right.

It is easy and so tempting to focus on the beautiful red-toned rock, but there are many other colors to see as well. They range from the nearly white sandstone found in some layers, through intense yellows, and all the way to nearly black, especially where lichen or moss grows on the rock. The surface of the rock in this scene is very complex. Not only is the underlying striation visible, but various sorts of lichen have added color and texture – including the lighter blotches near the bottom of the frame and the slightly more subtle red spots lining portions of the fracture.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: face

Cottonwood Grove and Cliff, Autumn

Single-Leaf Ash, Green and Yellow Leaves

Hanging Branch with Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall

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