Tag Archives: monochrome

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

Dunes, Clouds, Morning

April 29, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Curving dune forms beneath spring clouds, Death Valley

This turned out to be a very productive morning for photography — from scenic photographs of beautiful light on the Cottonwood Mountains to abstract and expressive photographs of the dune forms. I had several conditions that appeal to me. The sun in this photograph was almost directly in front of the camera, creating a somewhat stark effect and producing myriad sparkles in the sand. There were clouds from a passing weather front, and in a typically cloud-free place like Death Valley it is wonderful to get them. Not only were there clouds that I could include in the composition, but at times other high, thin clouds softened the light.

When I made this exposure I was pretty certain that I was heading toward a monochromatic interpretation. I also had a mental image of layers stacked up vertically: the light-colored lower band of sand, the softer middle ground with the streak of light passing across the darker textured sand, and the clouds above. In the end, as I presumed from the start, black and white seemed more likely to let me take this image where I wanted it to go, emphasizing the abstract nature of the elements more than their objective nature. If it is somewhat difficult to see this as a purely “real” subject… I’m fine with that.

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

Desert Light and Shadow

April 27, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light illuminates dust filled air above desert mountains and valley

Please indulge me as I continue to engage in my obsession with a series of photographs of this scene made on a special morning earlier this spring, when dark clouds gave way to light across the valley from my position high on a desert mountain ridge in Death Valley National Park.

If nothing else, sharing the series of somewhat similar photographs (this one, others posted previously, and possibly one or two more still to come) might illuminate the process of refining the way of seeing a particular subject. (Of course, to do that more completely you would also have to see photographs of the same location from previous visits over a period of years.) While I was there and the light was evolving I was very aware that the I could “see” the scene in multiple ways: Did I want to focus on the sky with its spectacular clouds? Did I want to minimize their presence to allow the luminous glow of backlit haze below them to take precedence? How much presence did I want to give to the strongly contrasting shaded mountains below me. How do the color and monochromatic interpretations compare? I still do not have final answers to those questions, but this portrait orientation view gives the luminous mountains across the valley a larger place the overall image and may more clearly present series of parallel and contrary lines in the scene.

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

Sand and Shadow

April 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patterns of light and shadow on desert sand dunes

This was just about the last photograph I made during this year’s spring photography trip to Death Valley National Park. Our plan was to get up and be on the road to the Los Angeles area in the morning, but I couldn’t resist one more early awakening, so I was up and down the road before sunrise, parking my vehicle a half hour away from a location I had been thinking about for some time. I headed out across the flats in the pre-dawn semi-darkness and hiked toward low dunes as the sky began to lighten. It was very quiet and the air was still as I arrived and climbed up onto low sand hills and dunes.

I was surprised to find the wind blowing stiffly in the dunes, and as I photographed the foot or so above the sand was filled with blowing sand, occasionally muting the otherwise distinct patterns of rippling sand. I began by photographing some longer views across ranks of dunes rising toward the east, but I gradually shifted my attention to closer and smaller subjects, looking for interesting patterns and conjunctions. This deep shadow fell across a low spot in the sand, and contrasted starkly with the higher dunes that were already in full sun, creating a sort of yin-yang pattern. A few more minutes of photography, and then I packed up, walked back the way I had come, returned to our lodgings, and soon we were on the road once again.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Buildings, Venice Beach

April 24, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Venice Beach buildings in midday sun

Finally. A photograph that is not Death Valley. Don’t worry, there are still more Death Valley photographs, and this one did come from the same trip. On our return from Death Valley we swung through the LA Basin to visit our daughter and son-in-law, replacing natural pleasures with the distinctly urban experiences of Los Angeles. On April 1 we went to Venice Beach to visit the G2 Gallery, where photographer friends exhibit from time to time. (We enjoyed the gallery quite a bit — some lovely photographs by Clyde Butcher and Jack Dykinga were featured that week.)

Out of the gallery and on the street I had an opportunity to play with a new camera, my Fujifilm X-Pro2, which had arrived shortly before we left for Death Valley. The street being the perfect place for such a camera, I pulled it out and made a few photographs. Initially I expected that this would be a color photograph, but as I worked on it in post I began to feel that it had potential in black and white.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: monochrome

Dunes, Clouds, Morning

Desert Light and Shadow

Sand and Shadow

Buildings, Venice Beach

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.