Tag Archives: light

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

Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains

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Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains
Afternoon light on desert mountains beyond rocks and playa, Death Valley.

Rocks, Playa, Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Afternoon light on desert mountains beyond rocks and playa, Death Valley.

This spot has drawn my attention over many years of visits to Death Valley. It would be easy to miss — it is just a rock-covered hill next to a roadway, in a location where people are most likely looking in a different direction. But I stop here frequently and poke around, looking for photographs. It hasn’t been easy!

One of the challenges here is that, in my view, the best time to photograph here is in the late afternoon, just before the sun drops behind the far ridge. Not only does this bring the challenges of shooting almost directly into the sun, but the black rocks and easy turn into pure black shadows. It is also a bit of a challenge to find combinations of rocks that have some kind of compositional integrity. This photograph comes from an afternoon when some dust and haze highlighted light beams from the late-day sun.

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

Dune Patterns, Evening

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Dune Patterns, Evening
Evening side-light highlights the textures of san dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dune Patterns, Evening. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Evening side-light highlights the textures of san dunes, Death Valley National Park.

What photographic visit to Death Valley would be complete without at least one photograph of sand dunes? I did not devote much time to that subject on this visit, but I did spend an evening among the dunes, arriving before sunset and continuing to photograph into the early dusk, when I could work with softer light.

In this location the direct light ends a bit before the actual sunset time, since a range of tall mountains stands to the west, casting long shadows across the dunes. After photographing there for years, I’m still surprised when these shadows arrive and suddenly the light is gone. I made this photograph during the brief window of golden hour light just before that happened.

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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California Fall Color, Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Hills, Morning Haze

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Desert Hills, Morning Haze
Morning haze obscures distant hills above badlands formations, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Desert Hills, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning haze obscures distant hills above badlands formations, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

This scene came as a complete surprise. I arrived at this location on a low ridge before dawn and photographed some striking geological formations to my north as the sun came up, gradually filling the landscape with light. Finishing with that subject, I turned around and looked in the opposite direction. Backlit haze had descended on the barren landscape and was glowing in the morning light.

In clear weather, this view reveals badlands in the foreground and dark and tall mountains beyond. But the light made the haze luminous and muted the details of the terrain. I’ve seen such atmosphere in this landscape before, but more often it has come as the result of dust storms. But this was a quiet and nearly still morning.

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

From Valley To Peaks

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From Valley To Peaks
In morning light, he Panamint Range rises from below sea level in Death Vally to over 11,000 feet at Telescope Peak.

From Valley To Peaks. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The Panamint Range rises in morning light from below sea level in Death Vally to over 11,000 feet at Telescope Peak.

Earlier I shared another photograph of this series of impressive ridges, rising in the dawn light from the below-sea-level playa of Death Valley to the 11,000’+ summit of Telescope Peak. The other photograph took in a wider view of the landscape. In this one I narrowed the focus to emphasize the immense mass of these mountains and their astonishingly tall escarpment.

It is very hard to get an accurate sense of scale for this scene. This was true when I was there, and I suspect it is even more true when looking at the photograph. The base of the mountains is many miles away — I don’t have an accurate measurement, but it must be more than ten miles. If you look closely, you may notice that it takes four ridges to reach that highest summit, whose distance is likely something like 25-30 miles. And if you look closely you can pick out a series of four ridges as the mountains rise to the summit.

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.