Tag Archives: lake

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

Lake Manly, Winter Sky

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Lake Manly, Winter Sky
“Lake Manly, Winter Sky” — Winter sky and its reflection in Lake Manly.

Yes, this is a desert! We are back from our second recent visit to Death Valley. On the first we experienced cool temperatures and rain at the end of December. Since the prospects looked good for wildflowers in the months ahead we booked a late-February return visit. There’s always a lot to photograph in Death Valley but, as a friend pointed out, the stars of the show right now are the wildflowers and Lake Manly. I photographed both, but I’ll start with Lake Manly.

For those who may not know, Lake Manly forms in the Badwater Basin during exceptionally wet years. It was deeper and larger last year, but it is still there and covers a lot of the salt flats. We visited early in the morning this time. The clouds suppressed any brilliant sunrise colors, but as a counterpoint they produced beautiful patterns in the sky which were reflected in the waters of Lake Manly.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Nature

Lake Michigan, Autumn

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Lake Michigan, Autumn
“Lake Michigan, Autumn” — Lake Michigan with autumn clouds, Chicago.

Last November we visited Chicago for a few days. This was mostly an urban adventure — walking around The Loop, going out to eat, visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, taking in performances of the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Chicago Symphony. But if a natural subject is to be found, I am going to photograph it!

One afternoon we took a long walk through the “Magnificent Mile” section of the city, eventually passing beyond the tall downtown buildings and coming to a… beach! Beaches don’t seem to be particularly popular places in Chicago in November, for good reason. But we wandered out toward the water’s edge, where I was able to photograph this panorama of of the water and a fascinating cloud deck.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Mountains, Sky, and Water

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Mountains, Sky, and Water
“Mountains, Sky, and Water” — Desert mountains and hazy light above Lake Manly, Death Valley.

Many of my Lake Manly photographs look out into Badwater Basin, across the lake, and towards the Panamint Range rising in the west. For this photograph I found a camera position a bit north of the “usual spot” and pointed the camera south to including the sequence of desert mountain slopes beyond the lake. This view includes the interrupted reflections of those slopes along with salt flats along the edge of the lake.

This photograph is related to another I shared recently that also featured layers of desert mountains extending into the far distance. Both feature “atmospheric recession,” in which haze lightens more distant features and obscures their details. In addition to elements such as converging perspective lines, this effect also can suggest depth and distance.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Photographer, Manly Lake

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Photographer, Manly Lake
“Photographer, Manly Lake” — A photographer wades in shallow waters of Manly Lake, Death Valley.

As I photographed the landscape another photographer worked her way out onto the shallow water at the edge of Manly Lake. At first I managed to photograph around her, but before long she moved directly into m frame. At this point it occurred to me that she could become the subject of a photograph herself.

Her presence illustrates something that may not be obvious about this desert lake — it is extremely shallow! This makes sense once you think about the nature of the terrain here This is Badwater Basin, a broad playa containing the lowest elevation in Death Valley. It is nearly flat, and differences in elevation on the playa are measured in centimeters. She was able to find places to step that were perhaps only a centimeter or two higher than the water. (From the Department of Awful Puns, it occurred to me that a fun alternative title for this photo could be “Photograph Her, Manly Lake.”)

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.