Tag Archives: layers

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

Fractal Landscape

Image Leave a comment
Fractal Landscape, Death Valley National Park
“Fractal Landscape” — A Death Valley landscape of layers of eroded ridges.

This view has intrigued me for years. At one popular Death Valley National Park location, one comes upon it quickly and often briefly. Because it is the coda of visits to this area that has many other attractions, it is easy to overlook it. It is harder to photograph than it seems that it should be — there are some compositional challenges, and unless the light is right the scene can have very low contrast and tricky colors.

The variety of pattens and details in the scene is remarkable. The first four ridges are low and consist of soft, easily eroded material. The more distant ridge is far away, across an intervening valley, and its details are almost always muted by haze. The foreground formations are deeply eroded and cut by gullies — which might seem like an odd thing at first when you consider that you are in an extremely hot and arid desert.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Clearing Fog, Point Lobos

Image Leave a comment
Clearing Fog, Point Lobos
“Clearing Fog, Point Lobos” — Morning fog clears in the distance at Point Lobos.

In early spring I made a quick visit to Point Lobos, located between Monterey and the Big Sur area. (The latter was still closed due to storm-caused road damage, and the thru-route won’t likely open again until much later this year.) I went early on a weekday morning, more or less the only way to enjoy this place without crowds, especially now that the weather is warming. I spent hours slowly wandering familiar areas, and enjoying the quiet morning.

As much as any other photographer, I often gravitate to making photographs of the Pacific coast that capture its grand scale and the power of the ocean. (I love to photograph the drama of Pacific winter storm surf.) But this morning and this picture represent a different but also compelling state of the coast — a quiet, gray day on which nothing seemed hurried.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Eroded Layers

Image Leave a comment
Eroded Layers
“Eroded Layers” — Erosion exposes layers in rocks, Pacific Coast, Point Lobos.

These rock formations have fascinated me since I saw them many decades ago as a child. My parents used to take us on family outings to Point Lobos, and very early on I began to photograph the place. (I am pretty sure that I went there on an elementary school field trip, a memory brought back to me on this visit when I saw a busload of kids eating lunch at picnic tables.) This little intimate landscape includes forms which seem to suggest the sea itself — I can see waves and inlets and more in it.

This particular spot at the reserve has a variety of interesting features. Stratified rock layers descend to the water of a cove, and they are twisted all sorts of interesting ways as the work of the water exposes them. There are colorful bands and intrusions. Sometimes the layers are turned on their sides. And, as here, the action of waves gradually peels back the layers, leaving abstract forms. (Hint: If you look closely you might spot a tiny tide pool and a few of its small inhabitants.)

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

California Fall Color, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Layers

Image Leave a comment
Aspen Layers
Layers of colorful autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Aspen Layers. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Layers of colorful autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

We spent time in the Eastern Sierra Nevada this past week, mostly searching for autumn color up and down the range. It seemed like a good year for fall color. If 2023 has a “fall color personality” it might be that the colors seemed to take off all at once across a broader range of locations and elevations than is typical. While things may have peaked this past week, at least by some measures, there should still be fine color for another week or so, especially at lower elevations and in more sheltered areas with larger trees.

I made this photograph in soft evening light, generally my favorite type for this subject — along with soft morning light of course. While intense sunlight can produce extremely saturated colors, especially when the trees are back-lit, soft light tends to reveal details, especially in the shadows. Here layers of trees march up the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest.

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.