Tag Archives: hills

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

Dunes and Arid Mountains

April 29, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Low sand dunes against a backdrop of the arid mountains of the east side of Death Valley

I made this photograph early during my evening visit to the lower portions of these sand dunes, before the sun had dropped low enough to really warm the color of the light but when the shadows were beginning to lengthen. Looking at this expanse of dunes, with shapes reminiscent of ocean waves, I considered whether to include or avoid the bits of life scattered though the dunes — and decided to mostly leave them out, except that I did build the composition around a small clump of branches poking out of the dunes in the center foreground, lining myself up to put an interesting and rugged set of mountains in the right spot beyond the sand.

The distant mountains are the Grapevine Mountains, which are actually a section of the larger Amargosa Range that runs along the east side of Death Valley. These are rugged, arid, rocky, and sun blasted mountains, with little evidence that much grows there. Late in the day the light on the mountains, and especially in shadows, shifts toward blue tones and the textures of the three layers of the scene seem connected and related — the foreground dunes, the middle distance low hills at the base of the higher mountains, and then the lower slopes of the Amargosa Range.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Creosote Bush, Dunes, Evening

April 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone creosote among sand dunes in evening light

This photograph is the product of repetitive evening dune wandering, often of a somewhat random nature. Since I had been out and about for many hours earlier on this day, I didn’t get back to camp from my “morning” adventures until close to 4:00 PM. This left me with less time to travel for my evening shoot, so I picked a nearby location with plenty of sand dunes and headed out toward the dunes a bit more than an hour before sunset.

I started with only the most general of plans, but with confidence that there is always plenty to see in such places — small abstract patterns, the larger curves and tonal variations of the sand, tiny subjects including the tracks of animals, the many plants that grow here, and the changing light itself. As I wandered into an out-of-the-way area of these dunes where no one else was photographing I simply slowed down, looked, and followed my instincts and interest. As I moved along I found myself on the top of a small dune and saw some possible views across the ocean of sand toward the far mountains. Looking for compositions in this landscape I spotted this solitary creosote bush in a low area, softly illuminated by a bit of remaining evening light. I moved a bit to position it against a lighter area of sand below the curving shadow that crosses the frame and then made a few exposures in the post-sunset light.

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

Dunes and Mountains, Evening

April 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dunes and rugged desert mountains in evening light, Death Valley National Park

I made this photograph near the end of a very long day in Death Valley National Park. Most of the day was not spent photographing, though I did make some photographs. In keeping with a personal resolution to visit areas of the park that I had not previously seen I had gotten up early and gone to a remove valley that is apparently not visited all that much. My initial idea of visiting the specific place came, as it often does, on what was essentially an accident and a whim. While reading about the park I came across the name of the place, realized that I hadn’t heard that name before, looked it up and figured out where it was, and decided to go there. Since I’m not sharing photographs of the location in this post, the specific details aren’t important, though I’ll share that it was a long drive on rather rough roads — and I finally ended up at a place where the road simply ended in a very quiet little valley high in the desert mountains.

After spending a bit of time alone in that spot it was time to retrace my route back to where I was camped, and by the time I finished the return drive it was almost time to think about photography in evening light. After hours of driving earlier in the day I decided to shoot nearby, and I ended up at these familiar dunes, though perhaps not in the area that most folks go. In fact, during the hour or more that I spent wandering around here with my camera I did not encounter a single other person — though I could see people off in the distance at times. Here I found a spot with an almost clear view across the complex shapes of the dunes, looking toward the rugged mountain landscape along the east side of the valley, and I photographed through the last sunlight and into the early evening.

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

Red Rock Hills

March 27, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Red rock hills rise from the surrounding terrain, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

I made this photograph in a spot where the ubiquitous flat terraces, covered with lots of dry country plant life, run into the edge of smooth sandstone surfaces which then rise abruptly into hills and valleys and low summits. We went to this place in the late afternoon — it and a nearby area were to be the location for our evening shoot. We parked our vehicles, got out, loaded up camera equipment, and headed toward these hills.

At this point the light was rather subdued for this time of day. High, thin clouds muted the intensity of the light and reduced the otherwise stark contrasts between shadows and subjects in the sun. This generally softens the appearance of the landscape and, to some extent, warms the light a bit. In the lower part of the frame a few hardy plants still manage to eke our a living on the rocks, but just beyond, as the rocks begin to rise up more steeply, almost nothing grows.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: hills

Dunes and Arid Mountains

Creosote Bush, Dunes, Evening

Dunes and Mountains, Evening

Red Rock Hills

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