Tag Archives: folds

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

Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

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Zabrisksie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds
Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds. Death Valley National Park, California. March 27, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of patterns of gully and hills in bright daytime light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Here I decided to try a black and white high key approach to this generally very bright scene shot not in the typical early morning time frame, but about two hours or so after the middle of the day. I like the way that darker, shadowed wedge of hill on the right sits in the middle of the curving line of the gully as outlined by the lighter face in the full sun. As with several other photographs I’ve posted recently from this area, I used a rather long focal length and composed an image from a very small detail of the scene in the folded hills below Zabriskie Point.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 330mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/80 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, desert, geology, folds, gully, earth, hill, bright, day, daytime, light, shadow, pattern, texture, curve, angle, black and white, monochrome, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, high key, stock, southern

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

Eroded Formations, Zabriskie Point

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Eroded Formations, Zabriskie Point
Eroded Formations, Zabriskie Point

Eroded Formations, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. March 29, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small dry wash runs past folded patterns of eroded hills in morning light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

This is another in my “up close and personal” sequence of photographs of details of the geology at Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie is undeniably an incredibly beautiful spot, but after photographing “the view” a number of times my attention was drawn to some of the smaller details of the surrounding terrain. While I’ll still shoot the famous view(s) from this location when conditions are special, I now spend more time using a long lens to pick out small elements of the scene – and there are a lot of them to work with!

On this morning the light was, at times, very special. When I made this photograph the typical sidelight from the early sun was diffused and filtered by some high clouds in the east, and this soft light is different than what I’ve seen here before – it seems to me to have a subtle glow.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 150mm
ISO 200, f/14, 1/40 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, gower, gulch, wash, folds, eroded, hills, formations, crack, earth, desert, barren, morning, light, sand, gravel, tan, brown, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, detail, landscape, nature, stock, geology, scenic, travel, dry, hill, gully

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

Death Valley Dunes, Morning

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Death Valley Dunes, Morning
Death Valley Dunes, Morning

Death Valley Dunes, Morning. Death Valley National Park, California. March 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the Death Valley Dunes in early morning light.

This photograph was made on a late-March morning when I had wandered out around the west end of Death Valley Dunes, near Stovepipe Wells, and entered them from close to the back side. I often approach the dunes this way in the morning since it means crossing much less deep sand and because fewer people tend to go this way. (The latter seems to be even more true now that the NPS has installed and “official” parking lot – with restrooms! – along the road near where most folks traditionally stopped to make their direct approach to the tallest dunes.)

I was in an area of lower dunes mostly shooting nearby sand textures and the long shadows cast by hills and plants in the very early light. However, it is hard to ignore the amazing curves and textures of the dunes as they rise towards the east, especially when they are side-lit like this. So I spent a few minutes pointing the long lens int that direction. When I made the photographs I was sort of disappointed that I couldn’t keep the footprints in the bright foreground sand out of the image, but in retrospect I think that they actually improve the photograph.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/40 second

keywords: death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, dunes, sand, mesquite, folds, shadow, light, pattern, hill, peak, foot, prints, mountain, morning, stock

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

Dusk, Death Valley Dunes

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Dusk, Death Valley Dunes
Dusk, Death Valley Dunes

Dusk, Death Valley Dunes. Death Valley National Park, California. March 26, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dusk light on plants and wavelike patterns of Death Valley Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California.

The drive to Death Valley from the San Francisco Bay Area is a long one, and even though I try to leave early I almost always arrive at Death Valley in the middle or late afternoon. This was the case on my visit during the past week. I arrived just before dinner time, set up my tent at Stovepipe Wells (or “Stove Pipe Wells” according to some of the literature at the lodge), grabbed a quick bite, and headed over to nearby Death Valley Dunes (sometimes a.k.a. “Mesquite Dunes”) to do a quick shoot in sunset and dusk light from a position along the road using a long lens. Some of the other photographs show a more “traditional” dune view, focusing on some of the larger dunes, the transverse dunes, and even the foothills of the Amargosa Range to the east, but for this one I decided to focus closer and photograph the plants growing along the closest dunes – plants greener than usual from the recent rains in the park.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 260mm
ISO 200, f/11, .5 second

keywords: death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, nature, desert, mesquite, dunes, evening, dunes, dusk, sunset, evening, light, plants, sand, pattern, wave, folds, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, stock