Tag Archives: hill

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

Tufa Hill, Twilight

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Tufa Hill, Twilight
Twilight and evening clouds above a tufa hill in the Death Valley landscape

Tufa Hill, Twilight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twilight and evening clouds above a tufa hill in the Death Valley landscape

A day or two earlier than this I had been out in a location not far from this spot at the end of the day, hoping to photograph end-of-day color. Just before sunset the sky went “dead” — some haze, no color in the sky, and a generally flat-looking landscape. I was about to pack up when “someone” (thanks, Patty!) pointed out, perhaps more than once, that I really should stick around “just in case.” And, yes, within moments a dull, gray cloud began to pick up pink tones, and before long sufficient color appeared to produce an interesting photograph. I know not to “pack before it is black,” but I need reminding from time to time!

The evening when I made the photograph seen here was challenging in many ways, and it began with perhaps even less promise than that evening a few days earlier. This time the sun went behind clouds to the west as it descended, turning the light completely flat. On top of that, the wind was absolutely howling, and sand was just beginning to blow. If I hadn’t had that reminder a couple of evenings earlier, I would have been out of there! But I stuck around, switching out the long lens that I had been using for a wider lens used for this photograph, and when the post-sunset, early twilight glow and color began I was ready. (A note regarding the title of this photograph. I’ve wondered about the source of these fantastical hills on the floor of Death Valley. As near as I can tell, they were formed many thousands of years ago, at the bottom of what was then a giant prehistoric lake.)

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds

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Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds
Historic Point Sur is dwarfed by clouds and the Pacific Ocean

Point Sur, Horizon, Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Historic Point Sur is dwarfed by clouds and the Pacific Ocean

By the time I got to this point on the Big Sur coast on this February winter day, it was past early morning and the light was more that of the midday hours. Often that might mean that the light had become flat and uninteresting, but some clouds close to the shoreline, some sunlight in the distance, and some high clouds further on made even this daytime light interesting.

I’m very familiar with this spot, where a historic lighthouse facility sits on top of a remarkable hill that would be separated from the land but for a low, sandy peninsula connecting it to the shoreline. Photographing from some distance away with a long lens, and aiming pretty much straight into the brightest reflected light, the hill’s details almost disappear into shadow, and it appears to float in the light and water.

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

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

Mud Hills, Evening Light

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Mud Hills, Evening Light
Mud hills near the mouth of a Death Valley canyon

Mud Hills, Evening Light. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mud hills near the mouth of a Death Valley canyon

On this evening I had taken a “random” walk into a canyon that I hadn’t visited before. It isn’t a tremendously popular place, so I had its narrow confines almost completely to myself, even though I wasn’t all that far from some rather popular Death Valley locations. The canyon itself was not the most visually striking Death Valley location I have visited, though its narrow dimensions and solitude were notable. I reached a blockage some distance up the canyon, and since the hour was getting late I decided to reverse course and head back out for early evening light.

As is so often the case with these canyons, I emerged from the dark and narrow canyon onto a broad wash that expanded onto an alluvial fan littered with boulders, cut by water courses, and open to more distant views. Golden hour light was beginning, so there was a lot to photograph, and it took me quite a while to work my way down from here toward the trailhead. As I walked, the surrounding hills became lower and more rounded as they gradually merged with the alluvial slopes that tend to line the valley. As the light faded with the already behind hills to the west, I made a final stop to photograph these folded forms, glowing in the filtered and soft light of early evening.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

River Of Aspens

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River Of Aspens
A river of autumn aspen trees descends a valley and turns around a side hill

River Of Aspens. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 9, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A river of autumn aspen trees descends a valley and turns around a side hill

I made this photograph during a brief visit to a familiar place, one that I probably have photographed from time to time over a period of about a decade. It is interesting to think about how my relationship to the location has changed over the years. The first time I visited, it held an almost mythical attraction, with several features that are iconic enough that at least three views of the location are quite well-known. But back then the number of photographers going here was a fraction of what it is today when sometimes it feels like the “east side” is virtually over-run by photographers in the fall. I suppose that this allowed me to mostly get past those standard views and simply regard this location as simply one among many beautiful spots in the general area.

Yet, certain features still have the potential to produce especially memorable conditions. This “river of aspens,” snaking down a shallow canyon and around an outcropping before ending at the shore of a lake, is one of these features. The colors can vary quite a bit during the season and between successive seasons. I’ve arrived to find it almost completely green… or to find that almost all of the leaves had already fallen. I’ve been chased away by snow and wind. This year the situation was, again, somewhat different from what I’ve seen in the past. The colors were mostly intense when I arrived, yet they ranged from green through almost bare trees. Rather than trying to take in the entire view, I constrained my framing and worked for a composition that might draw attention to the fluid curve of the grove as it nears its end at the shoreline of the lake.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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