Tag Archives: gullies

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

Badlands and Wash

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Badlands and Wash
“Badlands and Wash” — A small wash spills from desert badlands into Death Valley at sunset.

Another recent post of a Death Valley photograph noted the interesting subjects found in remote and hard-to-access areas of this national park. This is not one of those photographs. In fact, I made it a short distance from a popular lodging and camping spot, and my tripod was set up at the back of my vehicle! The subject is eroded badlands terrain where a small wash empties into the main valley.

The terrain of this park is remarkably varied, ranging from harsh, sun-baked desert playas to high summits that can be topped with snow. Among them, desert washes emerging from canyons are a favorite of mine. I love to walk the quiet washes, and they often provide trails into deep canyons and mountain heights.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Gullies in Soft Light

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Gullies in Soft Light, Death Valley
“Gullies in Soft Light” — Eroded gullies and ridges in soft light, Zabriskie Point.

These badlands formations, where soft layers have been eroded by water, can be difficult to photograph. Those difficulties can lead to ethical questions for photographers. The issue is that the range of colors and luminosity in these formations is very limited — the color is basically a light tan and the difference between the light and dark areas is small, at least in soft light. One choice is to enhance that contrast and coloration during the post-processing phase, and that can create some impressive images… though this can depart radically from the actual appearance of the landscape. Here I decided to go with the low contrast and soft colors instead.

To repeat a story I’ve previously related, almost by accident I ended up here to photograph a subject that ultimately did not develop as I had hoped. So I turned my attention to other things nearby, including these formations. I photographed them rather early, before the direct sunlight arrived. This meant that the contrast was even more subdued, as the soft light was from the early morning open sky — directional, but only subtly so.

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: Desert, Photographs: England, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Base of the Red Cliffs

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Base of the Red Cliffs. Death Valley
“Base of the Red Cliffs” — Gullies, folds, strata, and morning shadows at the base of the Red Cliffs.

The title says “Red Cliffs,” but you might be thinking, “They don’t look very red to me!” In more neutral light the formations in the upper part of the photograph, and even more so the formations above the margins of the photograph, do have the familiar red rock quality — though it would be fair to say that they are as much brown as red. But in this stark early morning light, just after sunrise, the colors are warmed so much that they are more yellow or orange.

In many ways the geology of Death Valley produces a blank canvas for photographers who want to work with varied light. For the most part, Death Valley’s colors are subtle. The lighter portions of the formations in this photograph are a sort of muted tan in midday light. But as with so many other subjects here, this muted, neutral quality allows them to pick up the colors of sunrise/sunset, twilight, colorful clouds, and reflections from nearby formations.

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

2 responses to “Base of the Red Cliffs”

  1. Charlie Colladay Avatar
    Charlie Colladay

    Hi Dan,
    Here I am, wasting some time on a Sunday afternoon and I came back to this photo of yours. It has not lost any of the intrigue that originally caught my eye and led me to post a comment. Forgive me for diving deeper still into the details of the lighting, that for me, is the strength of this photo. Again, forgive me, but I have to take some issue with a comment of your’s re: the light falling on the foreground.

    You say…”The foreground light is coming from behind and above my camera position — a combination of more reflected light and light from the open sky.”
    I’ll accept that open sky is supplying some over all fill light, but it is much weaker than the main, semi-hard light coming from the left. The evidence of this can be seen in the delineation of the vertical striations on the rock face at the left side of the frame. Each individual striation has a highlight at its peak then a shadow in the depression to the right, in a repeating pattern. Whatever the source of illumination, the bulk of its directional quality can’t be coming from above and behind the camera position. That would produce a much flatter light than what is seen here. The result then would be the foreground rock’s striations being less textural, less visible, more boring without the contrast of the highlight/shadow repeating pattern.

    On that same foreground rock, the upper left and the lower right (the ankle and the toes of the “giant’s foot”) are both darker and flatter, the result of being lit only by the open sky, providing an omnidirectional, flatter and lower level of illumination.

    The overall, bottom line still exists…I love this shot! The above details are just an explanation of why it works so well for me. Thank you, Dan!

    Reply
    1. G Dan Mitchell Avatar
      G Dan Mitchell

      Charlie,

      Thanks for taking the time to write a long post on this photograph. But I must admit that I’m a bit confused by your comment.

      You wrote:

      ”You say…”The foreground light is coming from behind and above my camera position — a combination of more reflected light and light from the open sky.”

      But when I look at the text I wrote to accompany this photograph, in the post you replied to, I do not see that I wrote anything like that there. I wonder if you were looking at a different photograph than the one you commented on?

      In the photograph on this page — “Base of the Red Cliffs” — the sun is definitively behind and above my camera position. It is not straight behind me, but is coming from a slight angle over my right shoulder, which is why the shadows stretch towards the left.

      Let me know if you can figure out why your comment doesn’t seem align with this photograph or its descriptive text.

      Dan

      Reply

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

Layers, Morning Light

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Layers, Morning Light, Death Vally
“Layers, Morning Light” — Early mornign light highlights layers of gullies and ridges in the Death Valley landscape.

Yes, yet another photograph of these well-known formations in Death Valley. Hey, I don’t photograph this specific spot that often these days, so maybe I can be excused for working it to death on this one unexpected visit? This is a small section of a larger badlands landscape that lies around and below this popular sunrise location in the park.

If you are interested — and if you follow me regularly — you can get a sort of overview of how the light changes on these features in the morning by looking at the series of photographs I am posting from this visit. I started before sunrise, continued as the sun hit nearby features and cast soft light into the scene, and finished up only as the first direct light (fortunately softened a bit high thin clouds) spread across the area.

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

2 responses to “Layers, Morning Light”

  1. Oscar Avatar
    Oscar

    I marvel at your dedication to capture nature and the human experience!

    Reply
    1. G Dan Mitchell Avatar
      G Dan Mitchell

      Thanks!

      Reply

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