Tag Archives: morning

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

Gulllies and Strata, Morning Light

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Gulllies and Strata, Morning Light, Death Valley
“Gulllies and Strata, Morning Light” — Highly eroded gullies and strata, Death Valley National Park.

Some geological formations in Death Valley National Park are simply otherworldly. The sparse vegetation lays these features bare — they are more visible than in places covered by forests and other vegetation. The landscape has been uplifted, split, warped, and eroded in remarkable ways. Here tilted strata emerge in deeply eroded land, and morning shadows add more contrast.

I’ve often noted the irony that this place, known for its dryness and heat, is one of the best places to clearly see the effects of water on the landscape. The material in these formations was laid down under water millennia ago. And the diagonal gullies were created by water erosion. If you have your eyes open, you’ll see that the evidence of water’s effect on the landscape is visible everywhere in this park.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Marsh and Fog, Sunrise

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Marsh and Fog, Sunrise, Central Valley, California
“Marsh and Fog, Sunrise” — Fog envelopes a wetlands marsh at sunrise.

This was a morning of utmost stillness and quiet. We worked our way around the perimeter of a wetlands landscape filled with ponds. Geese and sandhill cranes were beginning to stir in the first light. There was thick tule fog before dawn, and it started to thin as the sky began to lighten as the sun rose.

These wetlands marshes can be a welcome antidote to the stresses of our current world. (No, I don’t believe in ignoring the causes of that stress, just in trying to find balance.) Here things move so slowly that sometimes they barely appear to change at all. In this scene a few ducks paddled by slowly, and tiny ripples appeared in the water, while fog moved almost imperceptibly.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Morning Fog, Geese, and Trees

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Morning Fog, Geese, and Trees
“Morning Fog, Geese, and Trees” — A flock of geese in flight over wetlands trees and thining morning fog.

Few things are as thrilling as a flock of geese lifting off all at once on a winter morning shortly after dawn. They erupt suddenly, generally without warning, in a mass of sound and flapping wings, and then spread out across the landscape as they turn and circle or perhaps head off into the distance. A few moments later, the morning is once again quiet.

I made this photograph early in the morning, shortly after sunrise when the light was still warmly colored by the newly-risen sun. A bit of fog was rising from the wetlands ponds, and the hills of the western Central Valley were visible in the distance.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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

Badlands Gullies, Morning

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Badlands Gullies, Morning — Death Valley
“Badlands Gullies, Morning” — The first direct sunlight sweeps across the curving shapes of badlands erosion gullies, Death Valley.

I have a rule about returning to photograph popular subjects that I first photographed years ago: Only stop if it looks like something unusual and very special might happen. The rule applies to Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, where scores of photographers (and others) gather before dawn to await the sunrise. During the last week of February I drove past on my way to a different subject. In the dim light I thought I saw developing clouds that might produce something special at sunrise. So I (literally) slammed on the brakes, turned around, parked, and joined the throng.

The special light I hoped for didn’t develop. Instead of turning colorful at sunrise, the colors just went flat. Ah, well. I can never be fully certain about what will happen in these situations, and my hunches merely improve the odds — sometimes things don’t work like I hope. But there I was, set up to make photograph s at this location. So, what else could I photograph there? I turned my attention to nearby badlands terrain and photographed it as the direct light arrived, softened a bit by high clouds.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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