Tag Archives: hills

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

Hills And Alluvial Fan

April 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on desert hills and a gigantic alluvial fan above the salt flats of Death Valley

There are a number of things that characterize Death Valley for me — the arid climate, of course, but also the exposed geology, the texture and sound of gravel underfoot, the widely scattered plant life, the quality of atmosphere and light. But most of all I think it is the immense scale of the place that impresses me. It is easy to overlook the fact that the small hill or those dunes or that peak that seem so close may be far enough away that you could not walk there in a day, or that it might take a few hours of driving.

That scale is visible in this photograph, though it may not be immediately apparent. While the foreground was, with its low walls illuminated by early morning light, is very close, and getting to the first dark hill might take no more than 15 minutes, the further hill down on the lower portion of the alluvial fan might require a morning’s walk. It would likely take all day to get to the closest portion of the distant salt flats, and the furthest areas at the upper part of the frame would require a few days of walking. I arrived at this place — but not by walking! — before the sun rose, when it was cloudy and seemed like it might not be a good day for light. But there were a few breaks in the clouds, and across the valley to the right of the scene some sun was striking a mountain ridge. Before long, as the sun came up and rose higher in the sky, that light began to move closer until it finally washed across the landscape in front of me.

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

Desert Hills, Morning

April 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light slants across desert hills, Death Valley National Park

If you know Death Valley well, you already know this — but to many of you it may come as a surprise to realize just how much of Death Valley’s character is the result of the actions of water. The main valley itself was once the floor of a huge lake, and quite a few formations were formed beneath its surface. Once you realize this you begin to see the evidence everywhere. And in the time since the lake’s waters receded, the effects of water have continued in other ways. Evidence of flowing water is everywhere, from the gullies inscribed into the hillsides, to the washes that are found almost everywhere, and including the gigantic alluvial fans forms as floods carried eroded material from the high mountains out onto the desert floor. This extraordinarily dry landscape is, oddly enough, one of the easiest places to see the effects of water.

I had originally planned to photograph in a salt flat area where a bit of water flows, but when I arrived and found that my intended distant subject was under dim, cloudy light I decided to go with plan b and move on to higher ground. I had scoped out this location on a previous evening and was intrigued by the overlapping patterns of darker hills rising above the alluvial fan and the way they recede into distant haze. In the morning I could tell from a distance that there was light up here, so I quickly headed this direction, arriving just as the first light touched some clouds overhead. As I continued to photograph the clouds moved, bringing alternating periods of hazy gloom and then beautiful light.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Hills, Edge of the Carrizo Plain

April 9, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on a stream bed dropping though Temblor Range hills toward the Carrizo Plain

On this early April day I drove south from the San Francisco Bay Area on highway 101, leaving that route and heading east near Paso Robles to travel through the impossibly green spring landscape of Central California hills. I wasn’t alone. This being a beautiful spring Sunday, many others were out here to look for spectacular wildflower displays. And here, as in many other similar California locations, we found what we were looking for.

I continued to the east, eventually arriving at this high plain, often a desolate place but for a few weeks in wet years a place full of growth and color. I met up with friends who were already camped there, and we soon headed out to look for places with special color. We followed a small gravel road up into the foothills of the Temblor Range — we parked where it ended, loaded up packs, and continued on up into the hills of foot, heading toward some extensive fields of colorful wildflowers. As we topped the first rise I paused an looked back down at the base of the hills where the gully of a small stream winds its way toward the plain.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks, Trail, Spring

March 15, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Old oak trees along a Northern California trail through spring grasslands

When people think of the landscape of California, many think of impressive and famous subjects: the redwoods, the Pacific Ocean coast, the High Sierra, perhaps the deserts. But those of us who live here know that one of the most characteristics is that of the oak grasslands. The sprawl along the low hills found all over the state and manage to climb up into mountains in many places — on both sides of the Central Valley, along the coastal hills, and more.

This tree and I go back perhaps twenty years, to when I first “discovered” this park just south of the main population centers of the San Francisco Bay Area. The specific location isn’t really important to anyone else, since you can find similar landscapes in many other places. But this tree is special to me. It sits along a trail that I have hiked many times, a steep but short one that takes me to the top of a bare hill and then down into a valley from which more distant trails branch out. I’ve photographed this sprawling oak throughout the year — summer, fall, winter and spring, in rain and fog and heat. This time I photographed on a late-winter California day that, as they sometimes do, felt more like spring.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: hills

Hills And Alluvial Fan

Desert Hills, Morning

Hills, Edge of the Carrizo Plain

Oaks, Trail, Spring

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