Tag Archives: formations

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

Desert Gully

Image May 13, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The desert landscape of Death Valley National Park seems fairly static. Yes, we see dust storms blow things around a little, but even the shapes of the dunes remain fairly constant over time. The mountains and the playas look much as they did when I first saw them 25 years ago. But the reality is that this is a very dynamic landscape, and it is constantly being built up and torn down. This photograph is an obvious example of the latter process.

This light material was laid down millennia ago in the distant prehistoric past, long before people were here — and before there were even “people” at all. Over vast stretches of time the material was transformed — squashed, bent, tilted. Eventually a combination of uplift and erosion exposed it, and other processes kicked in. Here, those processes — including flowing water — have eroded and continue to erode the layers, producing this maze of small gullies and the fine silt seen at the bottom of the photo.

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

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

Badlands Formations

Image April 25, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I don’t always photograph at Zabriskie Point — in fact, it was sort of an accident that I ended up there this February. But when I stop there I am always intrigued by the nearly limitless opportunities to photograph small details in the nearby badlands. There are two times of day when I like to photograph this subject. In the harsh midday light, the shadows can produce strong contrasts between the bright and dark elements. But early morning light softens the features, fills in the shadows, and sometimes introduces the reflected colors of the sky.

I was there, of course, very early — at least a half hour before sunrise, as the sky was just beginning to lighten. I did not plan to stop, but I thought I saw clouds that might produce sunrise color. So I abandoned my previous plans and stopped here. As the morning sun arrived on features to the west — the Valley and the Panamint Range — the soft light remained on these features below the overlook.

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

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Negit Island, Mono Lake

Image December 3, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

In a recent Mono Lake post I mused about finding and photographing less familiar views of this magnificent place. But I also mentioned that sometimes I do stop and photograph the well-known locations when the opportunity arises. With that in mind, I acknowledge that this photograph was made at one of the familiar places along the western shore of the lake. Heck, there’s even a place there to pull in, pay a fee, have a picnic, and take a hike!

The photograph encompasses a whole lot of “Mono Basin stuff.” Let’s start in the foreground with the dry shoreline vegetation adapted to tolerate the salty soil, and the small tufa structures in the water just offshore. The dark form in the distance is Negit Island, one of two volcanic islands in the lake. And in the far distant haze (the haze is also a feature of the place) we see desert mountains rising as the basins and range country of Nevada takes over.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Layers

Image June 7, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

All of the other photograph s that I made in this location at Point Lobos turned out to be color images, but I decided that I wanted to use monochrome for this one. There were several reasons. There’s an old “rule” about using monochrome when subject’s colors aren’t its main feature, and that was the case here, at least in this light. In addition, I felt that black and white might better abstract the forms of these eroded coastal rocks.

It is a fascinating formation, partly for what it is and partly for how it has evolved. This layered rock apparently underlies the low headlands here, and the end of the formation has been exposed by ocean erosion. (Below this spot is a cove, while above it is a grassy headland.) As the erosion continues it exposes remarkable patterns in the underlying rock. much of it is a sort of familiar sandstone that has colors similar to those in the American Southwest, but interspersed are layers of pebble-filled conglomerate and, here and there, some surprising bits of color.