Tag Archives: folds

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: England, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Base of the Red Cliffs

Image Leave a comment
Base of the Red Cliffs. Death Valley
“Base of the Red Cliffs” — Gullies, folds, strata, and morning shadows at the base of the Red Cliffs.

The title says “Red Cliffs,” but you might be thinking, “They don’t look very red to me!” In more neutral light the formations in the upper part of the photograph, and even more so the formations above the margins of the photograph, do have the familiar red rock quality — though it would be fair to say that they are as much brown as red. But in this stark early morning light, just after sunrise, the colors are warmed so much that they are more yellow or orange.

In many ways the geology of Death Valley produces a blank canvas for photographers who want to work with varied light. For the most part, Death Valley’s colors are subtle. The lighter portions of the formations in this photograph are a sort of muted tan in midday light. But as with so many other subjects here, this muted, neutral quality allows them to pick up the colors of sunrise/sunset, twilight, colorful clouds, and reflections from nearby formations.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Badlands Detail

Image Leave a comment
Badlands Detail, Death Valley
“Badlands Detail” — Photograph of details of badlands gullies in soft morning light, Death Valley National Park.

The pink color of the formations in this photograph was a big part of its appeal. It was early morning, and the direct sunlight had worked its way back across the valley to the tops of ridges nearly, and the light’s warm color washed over the nearly-white material of these ridges and valleys. Again, the Death Valley landscape, which can be rather subtly colored, served as a canvas for the effects of colorful light.

The location is at Zabriskie Point — I’m not giving away any secrets by mentioning this well-known location. It is one of the two or three most popular places in the park to view the sunrise. It was an unanticipated turn of events that brought me to this location, and I was originally going somewhere else when I set out before dawn.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Morning Dunes

Image Leave a comment
Morning Dunes, Death Valley
“Morning Dunes” — Death Valley sand dunes in early morning light.

On my late-February visit to Death Valley I only photographed the dunes on one morning. The dunes are a wonderful subject, but there are lots of other things to see and photograph in this park, and photographing those subjects didn’t leave me much time for the dunes. But it would seem wrong not to visit them at least once! I arrived well before sunrise, loaded up a pack, and walked out in the dim pre-dawn light to look for a good spot to use as a my vantage point.

Eventually I climbed to the top of a long dune that provided open views in almost every direction. There are lots of ways to photograph dunes, but on this morning I went with a very long telephoto that allowed me to focus in on distant subjects and still fill the frame. I noticed the overlapping curves on this tall dune as soon as I arrived, and I photographed it several times as the light transitioned from the soft, blue predawn light, through increasingly directional light as sunrise approached, to the intense light just after sunrise.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

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

Badlands, In Shadow

Image Leave a comment
Badlands, In Shadow, Death Valley
“Badlands, In Shadow” — Badlands formations in early morning shadows, Death Valley.

This is another is a series of photographs I made one morning at Zabriskie Point during my late February visit to Death Valley National Park. Previously I mentioned that I rarely photograph at this spot any more — after a couple of decades it takes some pretty special conditions to persuade me to join the crowd there. I stopped when pre-dawn clouds suggested the potential for a very colorful sunrise. Alas, that did not happen, but I did get some interesting light before the direct sunlight came to the formations at Zabriskie.

I’m a big fan of photographing in subdued light and especially in shade and when reflected light fills in the shadows. That is what we see here. The morning sunlight was striking nearby subjects, but it had not yet penetrated down into this little valley. The light produced a kind of soft glow and it picked up colors from the sky and reflected light from nearby prominences that were in the sun. Once again, the Death Valley landscape is a sort of canvas that is colored by 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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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