Tag Archives: geology

Equipment, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Textures

Detail #1, Rocks, Point Lobos

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Detail, Rocks, Point Lobos

Detail #1, Rocks, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of rock forms near tidepools at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I spent a mostly foggy and cloudy day at Point Lobos State Reserve south of Carmel, California during the last weekend of April. (I wrote elsewhere about the miraculous coincidence of my visit with the Big Sur Marathon, which delayed my arrival at the park a bit but ultimately meant that I was virtually the only person in the entire park!) I started at the actual “Point Lobos” – the punta de los lobos marinos area – and gradually worked my way south along the waterline. After stopping to photograph a family if harbor seals I decided to more closely inspect some of the twisted and colorful rock formations and textures and I ended up making some photographs of them, along with some semi-macro shots of shells and other shoreline detritus.

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

keywords: detail, rock, formation, shape, texture, form, geology, brown, gray, shore, shoreline, sea, coast, tidepool, rock, point lobos, state, reserve, park, nature, abstract, stock, monterey, peninsula, carmel, california, usa

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Before the Dawn, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley

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Dawn, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley

Before the Dawn, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Before dawn in Twenty Mule Team Canyon with Death Valley and high peaks beyond.

Twenty Mule Team Canyon is traversed by a good but not very busy gravel road. I was in the canyon well before dawn on this morning and torn between shooting detail photographs of the interesting eroded forms nearby and shooting the longer view down the canyon, over low peaks, and into Death Valley beyond. (In the end I worked quickly and did both!) At the time I made this photograph the very first sunlight was barely striking the highest peaks far to the north across The Valley, but the light on the nearby hills was the diffused light that comes from the sky before dawn.

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

keywords: death valley, national park, panamints, amargosa, range, mountain, salt, flat, twenty mule, team, canyon, dawn, sunrise, earth, forms, fold, geology, light, hills, peaks, badlands, ridge, pink, sky, cloud, scenic, travel, landscape, stock, early, morning

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Sunrise Light, Twenty Mule Team Canyon

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Sunrise Light, Twenty Mule Team Canyon

Sunrise Light, Twenty Mule Team Canyon. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of eroded formations at dawn in Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California.

This photograph is pretty much all about the light – though the interesting and varied patterns of the wildly eroded hills in Twenty Mule Team Canyon also help.

Twenty Mule Team Canyon is just a short distance up the road from the famous and iconic Zabriskie Point (a downright iconic photograph of which I recently posted here). But while the throngs gather at Zabriskie every morning before and at dawn – with good reason – almost no one is to be found here during this time of beautiful light, even though it is in some ways almost as amazing as Zabriskie. I made this photograph at that magic moment when the sun was just coming over a nearby ridge and we see full sun on the formations at the upper right but somewhat subdued light closer in the foreground.

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

keywords: twenty, mule, team, canyon, death valley, national park, california, usa, sunrise, dawn, light, erosion, folds, gully, ridge, hill, geology, colors, rock, dirt, gravel, pattern, shadow, landscape, detail, scenic, travel, stock, abstract

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Sunlit Outcropping and Erosion Patterns, Zabriskie Point

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Sunlit Outcropping and Erosion Patterns, Zabriskie Point

Sunlit Outcropping and Erosion Patterns, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stratified outcropping catches the morning sun light with eroded earthen patterns in the background – Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Yet another in my series of explorations of the details of the amazing geology at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. Here a small outcropping of harder, stratified material remains along the top of a very eroded hill between two gullies with more typically eroded textures extending into the distance in the background – all lit by early morning sunlight.

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

keywords: zabriskie, point, death valley, national park, california, usa, outcropping, strata, stratified, sun, lit, light, rock, earth, eroded, erosion, patterns, folds, shadow, texture, viewpoint, scenic, travel, landscape, geology, morning, nature, stock