Tag Archives: mesquite

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

Evening Dunes

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Evening Dunes
Low dunes in soft evening side-light, Death Valley National Park.

Evening Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Low dunes in soft evening side-light, Death Valley National Park.

Rather than being the result of a carefully planned and scheduled shoot, this photograph was a last-minute photograph of opportunity. We had spent the day in a remote location in Death Valley National Park, at the end of a long and rough backcountry road, where we had parked and hiked a few miles further into a canyon. The light in deep canyons tends to be best while the sun is still high in the sky, so we finished in the late afternoon and then drove out. We decided to stop for an early dinner and not worry about evening photography.

We finished dinner and as walked back to the vehicle it occurred to me that there was just enough light to squeeze in a bit of photography if we hurried to a nearby spot. We immediately parked and set up equipment as the last direct sunlight began to fade on the landscape below. I exposed three frames before the light was gone, and the soft light enhances the sensuous quality of all of those sand formations.

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

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.

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

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.

Blog | About | 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.