Tag Archives: mesquite

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

Morning in the Dunes

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Morning in the Dunes
Soft morning light and subtle colors on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Morning in the Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Soft morning light and subtle colors on sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

The quality of the light among the sand dunes makes all the difference. The dunes themselves are, to a great extent, a visual blank slate. The interesting things we see there are defined by that light — its angle, brightness, color, intensity, and more. The same scene could look cold in blue hour light, warm during the golden hour, harsh and almost colorless at midday, or very subtle under soft light — and there are more variations on these themes than I can possibly list here.

We visited several dune areas on this visit to Death Valley National Park. We wandered out into these dunes one morning, arriving before sunrise and then continuing to photograph as the sun rose and the light gradually transitioned towards the less-interesting daylight qualities. High clouds greatly softened the light and decreased the contrast in the scene, and we found ourselves watching and waiting for even slight increases in brightness and directional light.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Sea of Dunes

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Sea of Dunes
Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sea of Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sand dunes occupy a tiny fraction of Death Valley National Park but are one of the most common photographic subjects. They loom large in our sense of the place, perhaps because sand dunes evoke of a sort of alien landscape. But they also present a visual blank slate that is open to diverse interpretations. We can approach them as “grand landscapes” or as intimate landscapes, as abstractions of shape and color, as backdrops for photographs of people and wildlife, and more. I think I began by seeing them as grand landscapes but now find it more interesting to seek out little fragments of form and light.

Perhaps because it makes everyone a bit uneasy we don’t speak a lot about the extent to which photographers treat dunes as a photographic starting point for visual experimentation. By this I mean to acknowledge that most interesting, compelling photographs of sand dunes involve a lot of “interpretation,” much of it done via post-processing techniques. To be sure, I regard this as conceptually legitimate and even necessary, and I embrace it in my own photography— I egard post-processing to be as integral to photograph-making as setting up the camera and clicking the shutter.

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

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

Sand Dunes, Soft Light

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Sand Dunes, Soft Light
Soft morning light on overlapping sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Sand Dunes, Soft Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Soft morning light on overlapping sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

We often hear that photography is all about light, and nowhere is this more true than when photographing sand dunes. In the middle of the day the dunes can be challenging to photograph, with harsh light and little definition of their forms. But all sorts of magic can happen when the angle of the light is lower and the dunes act as a canvas to capture and reflect the light and its color, intensity, softness, and more. The colors can vary through almost every shade from blue through red, and the light may be soft and gentle or stark enough to turn shadows almost black. And at times the light passes through all of these stages and more in moments.

I’ve long felt that dune photography gives the photographer more creative and interpretive freedom than many other subjects. Because the subject is so basic, it is possible to take liberties with the light — its intensity and color — and render photographs of dunes in a variety of subjectively true ways. The light was extremely soft when I made this exposure, so I used to tools of the post-production stage to bring out the colors and forms of the subject.

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 | 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.

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

Dunes and Desert Mountains, Evening

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Dunes and Desert Mountains, Evening
Evening clouds above desert mountians and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dunes and Desert Mountains, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Evening clouds above desert mountians and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

My recollection of this evening is that I arrived barely in time for late-day photography. I had been photographing elsewhere and calculating my schedule carefully. My plan was to arrive just in time to walk out to an area I had scoped out before, arriving at my destination perhaps a half hour before the sun dropped behind a western mountain range. I would first shoot straight into the setting sun, using its rim light to accentuate the forms of the dunes.

My plan mostly worked, though it took a bit longer to hike to the spot than I expected. By the time I arrived I had less than that anticipated half hour to work in the last direct sunlight, but I set to work and did get some other photographs that I like. Then, as happens in places like this, the mountain shadow moved quickly across my position and the light went from warm-toned and intense to soft and increasingly blue. I turned 180 degrees and photographed this evening cloud above the last direct light on peaks along the east side of Death Valley.

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 | 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.