Tag Archives: grand staircase

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Pothole and Sandstone Valley

December 11, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pothole in a sculpted sandstone valley

A group of us, all photographers, gathered on this morning outside of the town of Escalante. We had arrived from various points around the American West including California, Utah, Arizona with a plan of spending a few days photographing somewhat remote areas of Utah canyon country. After exchanging greetings we headed out to the spot where we would camp for the next few days, where we set up and settled in. After a bit of mid-afternoon wandering around in the area around camp, we decided that it was time to locate a place to shoot in the evening.

One member of the group — sort of our unofficial leader, in that he lives in the area — suggested a spot a few miles north of our location, so we loaded up a few vehicles and headed that way. This place is a wonderland of sinuous sandstone formations, including large flat areas, ridge tops, gullies, potholes, twisty valleys and more. Although we were only there for a few hours, it is the sort of place where one could photograph many times and still find new subjects. After starting out together and photographing some of the more obvious features in the area, we split up and headed off in different directions. As high clouds muted the late afternoon light I saw this rock-bound landscape of curving sandstone heading off towards the west.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah

December 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fallen oak leaves on the moist floor of a Utah canyon

I found these newly fallen autumn oak leaves at the bottom of a narrow canyon in the southern Utah back-country. The spot is a sort of “half Subway” (referencing the iconic location in Zion National Park — though this is not near there) with a tube-like formation cut into the rock on one side of the narrow canyon as the creek is forced to bend around massive rocks. Near the end of this curve is a section of smooth red rock that must have a spring above, since water seems to drip down it continuously.

All of these factors created a very unusual and striking little vignette in this spot. The tan leaves are dry, and lighter than the underlying rock. The rock is actually within the typical range of red canyon rock, though perhaps tending a bit toward burgundy coloration. But the colors a skewed by several other factors. Being at the bottom of a deep canyon, the light here has taken on the warm red quality from reflecting off of the canyon walls. Mixed in with that red is some blue reflected from the band of open blue sky straight above. A close look reveals some sharper reflections from brightly lit areas high on the canyon walls.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Roots and Rock

November 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dried roots of a desert plant wind across bare sandstone

On the scale of “plants trying to survive in hostile locations,” this one seems almost off the scale. It seemed to me that the plant had died, but I could be wrong and it might simply have been dormant. However, apparently in an effort to find water and nourishment, it had gone to extreme efforts. The plant was rooted in a small, shallow depression in the rock that is filled with sand. From there it had grown onto the rock and then continued to stretch in that direction until it was mostly on the hard surface of sandstone.

I was intrigued by the growth pattern of the plant itself, but I was also fascinated by the form of its barren gray branches (or roots?) as they stretched across the rock, and by the complex relationships between the plant’s form and the lines and texture of the rock.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Calf Creek Canyon

November 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall colors along Calf Creek in the bottom of Calf Creek Canyon, Utah

Anyone who has spent much time in this part of Utah probably knows this view along highway 12 between Boulder and Escalante. They (you?) probably also remember this section of the road well, too, since it follows a rather remarkable route as it drops to the Escalante River from plateau country to the west, rises up a narrow canyon from the Calf Creek and Escalante River confluence, and then runs along the top of a thin bit of high country between very deep canyons.

I drove it more than once on a recent visit, but only stopped to photograph on the final traverse after leaving Boulder to head west and meet family at Zion. It was morning, and I had more time than I needed for the drive, especially since I wanted to arrive in Zion at an hour when the light would be good along Mt. Carmel Highway. As I looked down from the road into the Calf Creek drainage I simply had to stop and make a few photographs. The light was slightly softened by high clouds and the fall color of the cottonwood trees and other foliage along the creek bed was at its peak. A bit of haze accentuated the distance as the canyon and its complex geology meandered toward its meeting with the Escalante a few mile further on.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: grand staircase

Pothole and Sandstone Valley

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Autumn Oak Leaves, Utah

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Roots and Rock

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Calf Creek Canyon

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.