Tag Archives: hour

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

At The Edge Of The Dunes, EVening

Image Leave a comment
At The Edge Of The Dunes, Evening
Evening light on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

At The Edge Of The Dunes, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Much of Death Valley consists of landscape laid bare, with the earth itself exposed in ways that aren’t seen in other landscapes where forests and meadows dominate. Even the places where sagebrush and similar desert plants grow are only thinly covered, and other than a short period each year these plants have the same colors as the earth.

At first this can seem, well, barren. But after you make a few adjustments this sort of landscape presents remarkable opportunities. Of course, this landscape turns out to be less barren than you first thought. Perhaps a single bush can be more remarkable when it stands alone. But even more important, the quality and color of light become more evident as it works its magic on this ostensibly barren place.

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.

Commentary

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections

Image 1 Comment

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections
A rocky peninsula, an alpine lake, reflections of the headwall in evening light

Alpine Lake, Evening Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rocky peninsula, an alpine lake, reflections of the headwall in evening light

In high places like this, where cirque walls tower over alpine lakes and block the light early and late in the day, evening quiet can come early. I had been walking to this spot almost daily for several days to try to make a photograph of a particular group of trees that caught the last sunlight in the late afternoon. On this day my timing was (finally!) right, and after I made that photograph I turned my attention to the rest of the scene, which was now in shadow.

To my left a small rocky peninsula pushed out into the lake near its outlet stream and supported a few trees and small plants that could gain a foothold it its cracks. Across the lake piles of talus lay at the bottom of the solid rock face of the valley’s headwall, where one snow patch remained, reflected in the quiet surface of the lake. That surface also reflected the rest of the face, including parts so high that they are not in direct view. The entire scene was illuminated by the soft blue light coming from the open sky above and behind me.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline, Glacial Moraine

Image Leave a comment

Shoreline, Glacial Moraine
An old glacial moraine reflected the water of an alpine lake in blue hour light

Shoreline, Glacial Moraine. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old glacial moraine reflected the water of an alpine lake in blue hour light

Over the years — decades, actually — I have learned to recognize more patterns in the backcountry landscape. (Which is not to say that I recognize or understand everything — there is still more to learn!) In places where I used to, and still do, respond with, “beautiful scene!,” I now ask additional questions: What makes it beautiful? Why does it look this way? How are these features connected? What processes are at work here? How is this changing? I have always known that glaciation played a big role in the formation of the Sierra Nevada. It is hard to miss this when crossing glacial polish on a granite slab or when tracing the shapes of Yosemite Valley. But it took longer to become aware of subtler effects.

For many years I hiked a particular route out to the Sierra crest that begins not far from Tioga Pass. There is considerable up and down in the first section of the hike — notable enough that I remember three specific such locations. It wasn’t until I had crossed them quite a few times that I realized that they were the remnants of very old lateral/media moraines. That doesn’t make them any easier to cross, but it does “excuse” them! This photograph includes another of these patterns, in this case a mound of gigantic boulders and smaller talus that was clearly pushed up by a small but long gone glacier that stopped just short of the shoreline of this lake. I made the photograph in blue hour light, in the shadows of the ridge above the talus field, and that light and the nearly smooth water evoke for me the stillness and deep quiet of such places.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Blue Hour Talus, Cliff and Lake

Image Leave a comment

Blue Hour Talus, Cliff and Lake
A talus field extends across the shore of an alpine lake

Blue Hour Talus, Cliff and Lake. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A talus field extends across the shore of an alpine lake

During my recent September backcountry expedition to photograph areas of the John Muir Wilderness, we were fortunate to find ourselves in a place with lots of rocky terrain — tall peaks above, mountain slopes all around, talus fields leading into alpine lakes. The lower Sierra country with it forests and gentle steams is wonderful, but I really love the higher and more rugged country, where stunted trees grow among tarns and small lakes, and where the landscape is more and more rocky as you ascend.

Near the lake at which we camped a gigantic talus field descended from the nearby ridge. At first glance such things can appear almost random and undifferentiated, being the rock equivalent of beach sand. But in the right light, looked at in the right way, and especially with a smooth lake surface to reflect their forms, structural patterns and flows begin to appear from the complexity of this landscape. In direct sunlight these rocks can be almost too harsh to photograph, with huge contacts between black shadows and brilliant reflective highlights. But during the morning and evening “blue hour” periods the light is softened, filling in shadows, and adding a different sort of coloration to the scene.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook |
Email

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