Tag Archives: first

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

First Light, Dunes and Creosote

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First Light, Dunes and Creosote
Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

First Light, Dunes and Creosote. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blossoming spring creosote plants among the sand dunes at first light.

I love early morning in the sand dunes. When photographing there I typically arrive well before sunrise, when there is just a hint of light in the sky. In Death Valley this is mostly a very quiet time of the day, often with few other visitors, when the winds have died down yet the temperatures are still comfortable. The ideal morning is preceded by a windy afternoon the day before and into the evening, which may wipe away many of the footprints from the previous day’s visitors. However, walking into the dunes I always find new “footprints” — of mice and reptiles and other desert residents.

The transition of morning dusk light to full sunlight always amazes me, even after experiencing it many times. At first things move slowly though inexorably as the overall sky begins to gradually lighten. Well before actual sunrise there is quite a bit of light, but it is soft and gentle light, generally with a blue tint from the pre-sunrise sky. (I made this photograph at just about this point.) Then the pace accelerates as the first direct sunlight strikes some high point, generally to my west, and the light begins to transition to the saturated reddish colors of sunrise and work its way to lower elevations. By this time I’m engaged in photographing and usually working fast as the light changes very quickly. As the sun rises above the horizon or a mountain ridge a brief moment of soft, direct light begins, but the light quickly becomes intense and the difference between shadow and highlights becomes very large. Before long the coloration of this intense light diminishes and conditions move toward “just plain daylight.” I photograph a bit longer… and then it is time for a break!

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 and Amazon.

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

Dunes and Mountains, First Light

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Dunes and Mountains, First Light
The first sunlight falls across sand dunes with a backdrop of desert mountains

Dunes and Mountains, First Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first sunlight falls across sand dunes with a backdrop of desert mountains.

Back in early March I made a trip to Death Valley, partly to meet and camp with family members and partly (of course!) to make photographs. Early March is still in Death Valley’s “cool” season, and I don’t think I saw temperatures above the mid-70-degree range. (By the time of my next visit the highs will likely be well into the 90s. And after that? I stay away from the place!)

When I travel to places like this it isn’t at all unusual to encounter other photographers that I know. (I once ran into a friend walking around a bend in a narrow slot canyon beyond the end of a 25-mile gravel road!) This time I discovered that a trio of photographer/friends from the Yosemite area were camped nearby, and we joined forces for an early morning visit to the dunes the next day. We met up and started walking well before it was light out, and we arrived in the dunes before the sun came up. Soon the first light began to slant across the forms of the dunes and we worked quickly in this ephemeral light.

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 and Amazon.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Light, Meadow and Lake

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Morning Light, Meadow and Lake
First morning light comes to Sierra Nevada peaks beyond forest-rimmed lake and meadow

Morning Light, Meadow and Lake. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First morning light comes to Sierra Nevada peaks beyond forest-rimmed lake and meadow

This photograph includes many of the major visual themes from a weeklong photographic visit to this part of the Sierra Nevada backcountry: The green meadow with its small trees, the still lake, low hills between the lake and the deep valley beyond, and across that valley many high, alpine peaks.

Although it is not the highest peak in this view — not by far — the bulky peak in the center of the frame dominated the view from this spot and many other nearby areas. (It also appears in a previous photograph I posted from near this location.) This morning began with partly cloudy skies, and as the sunlight began to penetrate the overcast it sent a beam of warm light across the face of the peak.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Light, Reflection

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Sierra Light, Reflection
First light on a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake and ridge

Sierra Light, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light on a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake and ridge

This is an older photograph that I recently came across as I went back through old image files. (I do this from time to time, and I invariably find something that I missed the first time around. ) We were on a pack trip out of the Mammoth Lakes area and on the trail for perhaps five days, moving among a series of lakes that all were under the watchful eye of the peaks in the photograph.

I was up early and perhaps a bit disappointed in the perfectly blue sky. However, as the first dawn light struck the peaks, it produced a perfect reflection in the surface of the lake, broken only by the pair of boulders, placed here in the composition to break up the mirror-image symmetry. While clouds in the sky might have been interesting, the smooth blue gradients reflected in the water make the peaks seem to float.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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