Tag Archives: morning

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

Playa and Shadowed Ridge

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Playa and Shadowed Ridge
“Playa and Shadowed Ridge” — Morning sunlight on the playa of Death Valley beyond a nearby shadowed ridge.

On one hand, this is an interesting record of something you can see in high places above Death Valley following a very wet season. On the other hand, there are several stories behind this photograph. It was morning, and I had arrived at this high overlook before dawn. Eventually the shadows of the mountains upon which I stood retreated across the valley towards me, leaving the playa in sun. At the moment that I made this exposure, there was just a small stub of the mountain shadow still in the valley, yet the jagged ridge just below me was still in dark shade.

Far below, there was a lot of water on the desert playa, much more than usual. Heavy rains during recent months had flooded a large section of the valley, and here a large pond is visible among the deposits that spread across the playa. A twisting, meandering stream leads to it. Farther out on the playa there are more channels — this landscape that we think of as being arid and hot was, on this day, full of water.

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

Desert Mountains, Morning

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Desert Mountains, Morning
“Desert Mountains, Morning” — A sunrise view across rugged desert mountain rainges from Dantes View, Death Valley.

I arrived at this well-known location high the Black Mountains well before sunrise. I’ve photographed here in the evening, but this time I was looking for sunrise light, which first touches the peaks of the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley, then works its way down and across the valley. Aside from the moments just before and after sunrise, these things happen relatively slowly, so I had plenty of time to look around at other subjects, too, including this view of layered desert mountain ranges.

Death Valley is the star attraction here for most people, but it is surrounded by impressive mountain ranges on all sides, and most of them are visible from this ridge. They stretch off into the far distance to the southwest. (Yes, somewhere in that direction lies Los Angeles!) The photograph looks southward along the flank of the Black Mountains, then across salt flats in Death Valley, and on toWard far more distant mountains.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow

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Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow
“Flooded Playa, Mountain Shadow” — The shadow of a mountain retreats across a flooded playa in morning light, Death Valley.

It is hard to make sense of the landforms of Death Valley when you are within the valley. It is so vast and so flat that your view is often a combination of what is right at your feet and what is many miles away. A more comprehensive view comes from ascending to a high point in the mountains on either side of the valley. From these elevated perspectives you can see things that are otherwise invisible.

This year these perspectives revealed something very unusual. A large section of the playa near Badwater, where the lowest point is located, is submerged under the shallow waters of Lake Manly. This photograph incorporates several elements of this year’s view — that shadow of the mountains on which I was standing, the salt flats shining white in morning light, the turquoise waters of the shallow lake, and a maze of channels along its periphery.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Sunrise, Lake Manley and Panamint Mountains

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Sunrise, Lake Manley and Panamint Mountains
“Sunrise, Lake Manly and Panamint Mountains” — Sunrise on the Panamint Mountains reflected in the ephemeral waters of Lake Manly

This is a photograph that is normally not possible in Death Valley — The image of a snow-capped mountain range reflected in the extensive waters of a gigantic lake. These are the Panamint Mountains, rising to over 11,000 feet on the far side of Death Valley. This winter the playa was covered by the shallow waters of ephemeral Lake Manly.

It was hard to resist the symmetry of this scene with the reflection in the still water was a near duplicate of the distant scene. I made the photograph after the morning sun had arrived on the higher peaks, but before it had worked its way down to the valley floor, thus the dark band across the middle of the image.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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