Tag Archives: morning

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

Creosote Bushes, Dunes At First Light

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Creosote Bushes, Dunes At First Light
First light on sand dunes and a pair of creosote bushes, Death Valley

Creosote Bushes, Dunes At First Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light on sand dunes and a pair of creosote bushes, Death Valley

I made this photograph during that short, beautiful period when the day’s first light arrives in the desert. I had spotted these clumps of creosote plant earlier, when the light was still pre-dawn blue. I made a few photographs at that point which, of course, have an entirely different feeling than this one. I think I had begun to move on to another subject when I decided to instead stick with this one as the sun rose behind distant mountains. The first light struck the top of dunes to my left (not visible in this photograph), and as the angle of the light increased with the rising sun it began to sweep across nearer dunes beyond the plants.

The color contrasts here are, I think, quite something, even with the overall soft quality of the scene and the light. That one band of dune just beyond the plants is very colorful in the early direct light. Beyond the sun is just beginning to strike a few other dunes. In the far distance the hills and washes at the east side of Death Valley are still in the blue morning twilight shadows. The creosote plants are still in shade — but not for long — and silhouetted against the more colorful den.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dunes, First Light

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Dunes, First Light
First light on Death Valley sand dunes

Dunes, First Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light on Death Valley sand dunes

No matter how many times I experience it — and I’ve experienced it a lot! — the instant when the first sunlight suffuses the landscape is always magical. Invariably, it sneaks up on me, even though I plan to be there for it and have probably calculated the precise time of the light’s arrival. Perhaps it is because I’m engaged in photographing the pre-sunrise light, a phenomenon that also is transitory. To this day, it still somehow surprises me when this light arrives in complete silence and stillness. Somehow it seems like there should be music or a rising wind… but it is just the light.

Sand dunes provide unending possibilities for photography, and they are a remarkable canvas on which the light can paint. In the middle of the day this sand would be a sort of bland off-white color. But for a few moments at the start and end of the day the sand takes on almost gaudy colors of sky and sunlight, and the soft shadows both emphasize the forms of the dunes and produce their own shapes and lines. Non-photographers probably wonder how we can force ourselves out of bed a couple hours before dawn and drive or hike long distances the pre-dawn darkness. We wonder how the rest of the world can sleep through it!

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Cliff in Sun, Trees In Shadow

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Cliff in Sun, Trees In Shadow
The edge of a granite face caught in morning sun, with snow-covered trees in shadow

Cliff in Sun, Trees In Shadow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The edge of a granite face caught in morning sun, with snow-covered trees in shadow

The little bit of sunlit granite cliff on the right side of this photograph has long intrigued me. When the light hits it a highlight is added to a scene that is often otherwise almost completely in shadow. The light only happens for a short period, since the sun has to rise above the thousands-of-feet-high cliff above and then find its way down at just the right angle. Basically, it is only going to happen in the morning at this time of year, and for a short time at that. On this day I photographed it just after new snow had fallen the night before, coating trees and granite with a thin layer of snow.

The color of this scene is perhaps also worth mentioning. I decided to “go with the blue” on this image. Deeply shaded areas that are illuminated by open sky are often far bluer than we might think, something that photographers soon learn to recognize. When we look at such a scene with our eyes and our brains visual processing system, our brain tells us that, for example, the snow in this scene is white. But objectively speaking it is very much NOT white — it is the blue of the sky. In many cases photographers — including me — will adjust the color of the blue shadows in post to make them a bit closer to how we recall the scene, but another option is to leave it just as blue as it actually is… which is what I’ve done here.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning, Fresh Snow

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Morning, Fresh Snow
The previous night’s new snow covers the trees of this conifer forest

Morning, Fresh Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The previous night’s new snow covers the trees of this conifer forest

This is another photograph from my recent week in Yosemite Valley in late February — and a cold and snowy week it was! But that was good news during a winter that had previously bene characterized by nearly a month of no precipitation and by well above-average temperatures. Yosemite Valley is always more picturesque after (or during) snow, but the climatological backdrop made this even more true this year.

I drove down into the Valley on this morning after snowfall the night before. There wasn’t a lot of snow — perhaps 4-5 inches where I had stayed overnight and no more than an inch or two in most of the Valley. But in many ways that was just about the perfect amount. On this very cold morning the snow stayed in the trees, and the thin layer still allowed the darker colors and shapes of the branches and tree trunks to be visible. As I came to this spot I noticed that the snow-lined trees were back-lit, so I stopped, wandered into the forest, and photographed… and before long the sun passed behind the upper edges of high cliffs, the area was in shade, and the opportunity was gone.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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