Tag Archives: hills

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills

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Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills
Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

This photograph memorializes one of a series of very dry winters in California, a period many of us remember as the great drought. For five years little rain fell in most of the state and in other parts of the West. The Sierra Nevada snowpack suffered, and consequently the forests were decimated and water shortages were a very real concern everywhere.

The view of the Sierra seen here is what you might typically see at some point in June or even a bit later, when the winter snow pack has diminished to the point that high country travel starts to become easier. But this was early January! I passed through here on my way home from Death Valley and recall being shocked at the bare peaks on the east side of the range.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Morning Shadows, Panamint Mountains

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Morning Shadows, Panamint Mountains
Morning shadows stretch across a wide valley high in the Panamint Mountains.

Morning Shadows, Panamint Mountains. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning shadows stretch across a wide valley high in the Panamint Mountains.

This photograph comes from a wonderful winter week in Death Valley a few years ago. Death Valley has increasingly become another busy national park, especially during the late winter and spring, and even more so during spring break and some of the longer winter holidays. But that had not quite taken off eight years ago when I spent a wonderfully lonely week in the park, having many places completely to myself… and experiencing some of the coldest weather I have encountered there.

I had been up high in the Panamint Mountains at dawn on this morning. After finishing with some photography of a particular subject up there, it was time to move on to the next subject. I headed down a gravel backcountry road, dropping into one high valley, and then continuing into an even larger valley below that. I paused here to look into those two valleys as the rising sun was casting long shadows across the landscape. This place always evokes the silence and immense expanse of this desert landscape.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Sky, Mountains, and Wash

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Sky, Mountains, and Wash
A dry wash, barren mountians, and morning desert sky.

Sky, Mountains, and Wash. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dry wash, barren mountians, and morning desert sky.

One of the things I always think about in desert landscapes is water. Not for the reason your are probably thinking — that it is because there is no water or that I’m thirsty because it is hot and dry. In fact, the reason is that evidence of water is almost everywhere in these dry places. This is one of the great ironies of desert terrain — it is so affected by the power of water and that effect is more visible because the landscape is barren and dry.

Consider this scene. There is almost nothing in it that doesn’t reflect the power of water. The foreground wash, while dry at the time of the photograph, is covered with patterns created by flowing water. Beyond, the low hills are smoothed by water and incised with gullies made by flowing water. Although those far mountains rose because of forces that are not directly about water, the shapes of the peaks and ridges are the result of, yet again, water. And in the sky we have clouds — more 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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

Morning Ride in the Badlands

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Morning Ride in the Badlands
A solo bicyclist on a morning ride along a curving gravel road past badlands.

Morning Ride in the Badlands. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solo bicyclist on a morning ride along a curving gravel road past badlands.

Years ago I was a very (very!) enthusiastic cyclist. I don’t ride any more, but I still have three bicycles — one of the early StumpJumper mountain bikes, a touring/commuting bike with a handmade British frame, and road-racing bike (also with a hand-built frame). Although I have not ridden in Death Valley, I can surely identify with the experience of the person in this photograph.

I had arrived in this area early, and I had been making photographs since before sunrise. Although a gravel road passes through here and the spot is not far from some well-known locations, I had the place almost to myself. I saw almost no one else as I worked. It was windless and still and so quiet… and that passing of a single cyclist was enough to interrupt the mood! But not enough to keep me from photographing him as he passed through this section of s-curves, heading toward more distant hills in this lovely light.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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