Tag Archives: mesquite

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

Last Light on Desert Plants, Death Valley

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Last Light on Desert Plants, Death Valley
Last Light on Desert Plants, Death Valley

Last Light on Desert Plants, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. February 20, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The last light of a winter day lights the plants at the edge of a wash in Death Valley National Park, California.

On this afternoon I drove a bit up the east side of the Valley past the turnoff to Beatty looking for subjects to shoot along the hills that parallel the valley. I did not initially have a specific shot in mind, since this isn’t an area that I know very well – I’ve mostly driven past it on my way to some other place. I was generally thinking of a couple of possibilities. One was an early evening photograph looking up into one of the very large canyons, probably include the massive washes that spill out of them and aiming for a very rugged looking image. I looked for a few such places and played around a bit with the idea of shooting one or two, but it wasn’t quite working for me.

I have included some low hills along this area called, I believe, the Kit Fox Hills, in some photographs that I have made of this area from way over near Mesquite Dunes. These hills which sit just above the road toward Scotty’s Castle have intrigued me, so I had also looked at them. As I passed them earlier in the afternoon I made a mental note to come back and check out one particular spot in better light, and when the canyon idea didn’t seem to work out I decided to head back there. I was probably a bit late in settling on this subject, but I arrived while the sun was still (just barely) above the tops of the ridges on the opposite side of the Valley. I grabbed equipment and went to a spot where I thought I could use a particular mesquite plant as foreground to a shot of these low hills, but then this backlit expanse of the floor of the Valley filled with these small, rugged plants caught my attention. I decide to photograph them before turning my attention back to the mesquite and hills. As I shot a few frames the sun began to drop behind the far hills much sooner than I expected, and this was close to the last photograph I made before I was in shadow.

All seriousness aside, someone just suggested that an alternate title for this photograph might be “Sea of Tribbles!” ;-)

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Two Hikers at the Summit of Death Valley Dunes

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Two Hikers at the Summit of Death Valley Dunes
Two Hikers at the Summit of Death Valley Dunes

Two Hikers at the Summit of Death Valley Dunes. Death Valley National Park, California. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two hikers take in the evening landscape of Death Valley National Park from the Summit of the dunes.

Many times I might have been disappointed to have two hikers enter “my” scene in such beautiful dusk light, but here I feel like they crystalize the scene. In a larger version of the photograph the two of them seem to stand silently facing the rugged vastness of Death Valley – and I think their presence invites us to think of ourselves in the scene and to imagine our own reaction to it.

My favorite time to photograph these iconic dunes near Stovepipe Wells is in the evening during a brief interval right around sunset and lasting a while after the sun drops behind the peaks to the west. The light softens, especially if there is a bit of haze in the sky, and the dunes that are so bright and harsh at other times of day take on a smoother and softer quality and their subtle colors become visible.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Death Valley Dunes, Morning

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Death Valley Dunes, Morning
Death Valley Dunes, Morning

Death Valley Dunes, Morning. Death Valley National Park, California. March 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the Death Valley Dunes in early morning light.

This photograph was made on a late-March morning when I had wandered out around the west end of Death Valley Dunes, near Stovepipe Wells, and entered them from close to the back side. I often approach the dunes this way in the morning since it means crossing much less deep sand and because fewer people tend to go this way. (The latter seems to be even more true now that the NPS has installed and “official” parking lot – with restrooms! – along the road near where most folks traditionally stopped to make their direct approach to the tallest dunes.)

I was in an area of lower dunes mostly shooting nearby sand textures and the long shadows cast by hills and plants in the very early light. However, it is hard to ignore the amazing curves and textures of the dunes as they rise towards the east, especially when they are side-lit like this. So I spent a few minutes pointing the long lens int that direction. When I made the photographs I was sort of disappointed that I couldn’t keep the footprints in the bright foreground sand out of the image, but in retrospect I think that they actually improve the photograph.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/40 second

keywords: death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, dunes, sand, mesquite, folds, shadow, light, pattern, hill, peak, foot, prints, mountain, morning, stock

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

Amargosa Range and Transverse Dunes, Sunset

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Amargosa Range and Transverse Dunes, Sunset
Amargosa Range and Transverse Dunes, Sunset

Amargosa Range and Transverse Dunes, Sunset. Death Valley National Park, California. March 26, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on lower reaches of the Amargosa Range and the Kit Fox Hills above the Transverse Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California.

The Amargosa Range lies east of Death Valley and the Death Valley Dunes, and its foothills (called the “Kit Fox Hills,” if I’m not mistaken) here from a backdrop for the “transverse dunes,” the lower eastern portion of the Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells. The dunes turn all sorts of interesting colors at and just after sunset on evenings when the light is just right, and the evening light brings out colors in the further hills and gullies that are generally washed out in the harsh midday light.

To get an idea of the scale of the scene consider that the photograph was made with a rather long focal length of nearly 400mm and that the very subtle line along the base of the hills is the roadway running north towards Scotty’s Castle. Walking out to the dunes along the lower edge of the photograph might take a half hour or so.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 370mm
ISO 200, f/8, 1/50 second

keywords: kit fox, hills, mountains, amargosa, range, alluvial, fan, desert, transverse, dunes, mesquite, gully, geology, grapevine, foothills, shadow, sunset, dusk, wash, evening, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, travel, scenic, wilderness, landscape, nature, barren, light, stock