Yes, more dried mud! As I have written before, for reasons that still mystify me, this is an irresistible subject for many landscape photographers… and I’m no exception. What explains it? The colors? The contrast with surroundings? The fractal shapes?
Continue reading Fractured Surface
The idea here was to get “up close and personal” with a small section of a monumental sandstone tower standing in the early morning sunlight. To make the photograph I turned away from the conventional scenic landscape I had been focusing on, using a long lens to focus on an area where features projecting from the wall were casting shadows back onto it.
Southwest sandstone is often impressive simply because of its color variation. I’ve commented before on how “my” California granite inevitably looks very… gray after I return from a visit to Utah. But in some places, such as here at Arches National Park, it isn’t just that the sandstone’s coloration is attractive, it is also that the strata of red rock are so thick and extensive.
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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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Cascade. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.
Water falls across a fractured rock face after August rain, Ansel Adams Wilderness.
We were here in August, a time when a cascade or waterfall like this one in the Sierra Nevada high country would typically be more of a trickle than a torrent. But a torrential rain storm had raised the creek levels just before we arrived, and the flow was quite impressive. Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the silt that had turned the water a muddy brown had almost dissipated.
We were not actually aware of this fall when we headed this direction in the late afternoon. Our actual goal was the timberline country further up the route. But shortly after we turned and began following the creek that led that direction we came to the cascade, which was positioned right next to our route. Packs immediately came off, cameras came out, tripods were set up, and we were pleasantly distracted by the photographic potential of this feature.
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.
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Blue Stone. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.
Detail of fractured blue stone with colors intensified by light from overcast sky.
At some point on almost any backcountry trip I end up spending time looking at things that I might not notice and photograph at first. The initial focus is often the grand landscape of mountains and valleys and trees and rivers — but eventually I focus on the more “intimate” aspects of the landscape. Among these are the infinitely varied patterns and colors of rock, miniature landscapes of textures and fractures and more.
While walking back and forth between our camp and a nearby high point from which I photographed the larger landscape I had noticed several bands of interesting rock and made a mental note to return to them. A few days into our stay that moment arrived and I spent a few hours wandering slowly through this area, looking intently and finding more to photograph than I had initially seen. The intense color of these rocks is partially due to their innate blue tint and partly due to photographing them when they were in shadows.
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.
Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email
Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.
Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.