Tag Archives: hills

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

From Dunes to Mountains

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From Dunes to Mountains
The view across the floor of Death Valley to eroded hills.

From Dunes to Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The view across the floor of Death Valley to eroded hills.

I made this photograph in the very late afternoon, just before sunset, on a relatively quiet and calm evening. These short dunes lie near the end of a large dune field that is quite popular with visitors, but their small size gives them a kind of landscape anonymity, and not many people visit or photograph them.

There is a lot of interesting geography/geology in this little scene, and it is part of what caught my attention. The bottom half of the photograph includes the valley floor, a large, sandy playa that, in places, gets enough blowing sand to form dunes. Beyond that, many miles in the distance, a large alluvial fan rises from the playa to the base of the hills, where valleys have spilled material over millennia to form this massive tilting structure. At the very top is a range of short, rugged hills. Out of the photo above them is a very tall range of mountains.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Morning Light on Dunes

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Morning Light on Dunes
Morning light on sand dunes with distance desert hills in the background.

Morning Light on Dunes. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light on sand dunes with distance desert hills in the background.

The camera position for this photograph is very close to that of a previous dune photograph I shared here — one made a few minutes before sunrise when the light was soft and the colors still subtle. What a difference a few minutes can make at this time of the morning, a time when light evolves with incredible speed! I made this photograph a few minutes later, after the sun rose above the mountains to the east and not long before the saturation and intensity of the first light began to fade.

I’ll use this photograph to note a fact about dunes that might surprise some visitors. If you have been out there in a sand storm it is easy to imagine the dunes blowing along like wave on the sea. The analogy isn’t entirely wrong, but the big surprise is that most major dune features don’t move much at all. I have photographs from here made years apart in which the same dunes are in the same locations and have the same outlines.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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, Photographs: Southern California

Sunset Sand Storm

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Sunset Sand Storm
A sunset sand storm partially obscures sand dunes in Death Valley National Park.

Sunset Sand Storm. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A sunset sand storm partially obscures sand dunes in Death Valley National Park.

This is another photograph from the tremendous wind and sand storm that blew though on our last afternoon in Death Valley at the end of March. These storms are common there, and if you spend much time in the park you have a good chance of experiencing one. If the prospect sounds exciting, well, it is… but it can also be very uncomfortable and even dangerous, and the romantic notion of wandering the wind-whipped dunes during a sand storm is quickly trumped down by the reality of flying sand and dust.

I positioned myself just outside the maelstrom and put a long lens on my camera. The winds were so strong — likely in the 50mph range — that my tripod was useless, especially with the long lens. I resorted to handholding the camera, switching on image stabilization, bracing myself against the nearest solid object, and trying to time exposures for brief moments when the gale diminished a bit.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Photographers, Photographs: Southern California

Photographing Spring Wildflowers

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Photographing Spring Wildflowers
Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell photographing the spring wildflowers at Carrizo Plain National Monument.

Photographing Spring Wildflowers. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell photographing spring wildflowers at Carrizo Plain National Monument.

Although our decision to visit the Carrizo Plain came at the last minute and took us on a route that was affected by road closures, when we finally arrived it was well worth the effort. It was one of those prototypical early-spring days in California — a weather front had passed through, it was windy, cloudbursts and cloud shadows moved across the landscape, wildflowers were in bloom, and at times there was sun.

Of the two of us, Patty is the more accomplished flower photographer. I dabble in this subject from time to time — and enjoy it! — but it is her primary subject. We took a gravel side road to get out into this valley that was carpeted with wildflowers leading off into the distance.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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