Detail photograph of patterns of barren hills and gullies at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.
From my series of detail photographs of smaller elements of the landscape at Zabriskie, and another one shot during atypical times of day – in this case in very bright afternoon sunshine. Because of these lighting conditions – color, intensity, and angle, the quality of the image is less “dreamy” than the typical early morning soft-light photographs of this area. Here you see more clearly the rough texture of the material making up the folds and gullies of these interesting hills that drop into Gower Gulch.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 330mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/50 second
keywords: zabriskie, point, detail, hills, gullies, barren, dry, earth, dirt, afternoon, light, diagonal, forms, abstract, geology, nature, landscape, patterns, death valley, national park, scenic, travel, california, usa, north america, stock, eroded
A small dry wash runs past folded patterns of eroded hills in morning light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.
This is another in my “up close and personal” sequence of photographs of details of the geology at Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie is undeniably an incredibly beautiful spot, but after photographing “the view” a number of times my attention was drawn to some of the smaller details of the surrounding terrain. While I’ll still shoot the famous view(s) from this location when conditions are special, I now spend more time using a long lens to pick out small elements of the scene – and there are a lot of them to work with!
On this morning the light was, at times, very special. When I made this photograph the typical sidelight from the early sun was diffused and filtered by some high clouds in the east, and this soft light is different than what I’ve seen here before – it seems to me to have a subtle glow.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 150mm
ISO 200, f/14, 1/40 second
keywords: zabriskie, point, gower, gulch, wash, folds, eroded, hills, formations, crack, earth, desert, barren, morning, light, sand, gravel, tan, brown, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, detail, landscape, nature, stock, geology, scenic, travel, dry, hill, gully
Black and white vertical format photograph of evening on the salt flats of Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California.
Yes, I’m still mining the Death Valley photographs from my late March trip. And there are more to come… :-)
This photograph was made in evening light on the salt flats of Badwater Basin, not far from the “official” Badwater area – but far enough away that there were only a couple other photographers out here enjoying the solitude and the beautiful evening light. A few weeks earlier this area had been flooded by unusually heavy rains in Death Valley. From all appearances (and from photographic evidence that I’ve seen) the photographers who were first on the scene had to do a bit of wading to get out onto the salt flats. Some of them were rewarded for their efforts with wonderful and unusual images, including reflections of the Panamint range in the circular pools between the polygons of raised salt.
By the time I arrived the area was no longer flooded, though it was clear that the playa beneath the drying salt crust was still wet. In places some of the water appeared in cracks and in other spots walking on the salt felt a lot like walking on winter pond ice. During the flooding, the usually tall ridges between the salt “polygons” seem to have dissolved. Typically they are perhaps up to a few inches tall and contain large cracks. At the time I arrived, the counter had apparently been set back to zero – and the salt surface was almost completely flat, though it is obvious that the polygon outlines were still visible and beginning to rise a bit. The vertical ridge leading away from the camera position in the lower portion of the frame is a good example.
I went with black and white in this rendition since the sky had not really lit up yet – in other words, color wasn’t necessarily the main feature of the scene. I also liked what I could do with the clouded sky and the distant ridge in black and white.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 35mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second
keywords: salt, flat, polygon, pattern, landscape, nature, geology, hills, mountains, sky, dark, clouds, evening, dusk, sunset, haze, atmosphere, light, shadow, badwater, basin, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, travel, scenic, black and white, monochrome, texture, curve, stock
Sunset light on lower reaches of the Amargosa Range and the Kit Fox Hills above the Transverse Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California.
The Amargosa Range lies east of Death Valley and the Death Valley Dunes, and its foothills (called the “Kit Fox Hills,” if I’m not mistaken) here from a backdrop for the “transverse dunes,” the lower eastern portion of the Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells. The dunes turn all sorts of interesting colors at and just after sunset on evenings when the light is just right, and the evening light brings out colors in the further hills and gullies that are generally washed out in the harsh midday light.
To get an idea of the scale of the scene consider that the photograph was made with a rather long focal length of nearly 400mm and that the very subtle line along the base of the hills is the roadway running north towards Scotty’s Castle. Walking out to the dunes along the lower edge of the photograph might take a half hour or so.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
