Tag Archives: Mountain

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel

Pena Palace

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Pena Palace
“Pena Palace” — The Pena Palace, on the summt of a mountain near Sintra, Portugal.

We missed the Pena Palace when we visited Lisbon a few years ago, so this time we made sure to set aside a day for the train ride to Sintra to see it. (It isn’t the only thing there — a remarkable “Moorish castle” is nearby.) The weather was… interesting. We had rain and wind and fog, to the point that it was difficult to be outside on the castle grounds. However, these conditions also made the scene more dramatic than it would have been on another pleasant, blue sky day.

Later I’ll share photographs made on the palace grounds. I made this one while traversing the old walls of the Moorish Castle. It also lies on a ridge, but a lower one than the palace. From there I had a dramatic view looking up to the summit of the ridge where the wildly colorful Pena Palace sits, complete with dark clouds moving past.

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

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

Corkscrew Peak, Evening

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Corkscrew Peak, Evening, Death Valley
“Corkscrew Peak, Evening” — Evening light on the giant alluvial plain leading up towards Corkscrew Peak.

This peak has long intrigued me — along with the entire ridge that it lies on. Perhaps the name first caught my attention when I was trying to identify landmarks in photographs I took from out in the Valley. Hint: it does not really look much like a corkscrew, though I can see how the tilted rock layers that seem to run around it inspired the name.

I photographed this on my first evening in Death Valley back in February. After a very long drive from the Bay Area I set up camp, rested a bit, and then it was time to go find something to photograph. Since it was late in the day I wanted to keep it somewhat simple, so I headed to this spot along a road leading out of the Valley, arriving just in time to photograph the day’s last 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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains

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Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains
“Reflected First Light, Panamint Mountains” — Shallow salt flat water reflects the first light on the Panamint Mountains.

During my late-February visit to Death Valley National Park, I spent two early mornings photographing the Panamint Mountains in the first light, with the salt flats and shallow water in the foreground. The water is not the ephemeral “Lake Manly” phenomenon that we saw in 2024. This is a slow, shallow flow of water that seems to continue all year, regardless of conditions. It is just enough water to produce these reflections.

These days I photograph almost exclusively with a full frame digital system. (Sometimes I use a smaller APS-C system, often for my street and travel photography.) I usually use a pretty straightforward set of lenses that work well for my landscape photography, but occasionally I bring out an adapted medium format zoom lens and mount it using the Mirex tilt/shift adapter — yes, movements with a zoom lens! That was pretty useful for this photograph given the low light and the extreme distance between the foreground and the 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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Desert Mountains and Sky

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Desert Mountains and Sky, Death Valley
“Desert Mountains and Sky” — Evening clouds form above desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

First day photographic subjects in Death Valley are often a bit tricky for me. It takes me about eight hours to drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, and when I arrive I have to find a campsite and set up my tent and other gear. By the time I finish it is typically getting close to the time when normal people would be eating dinner. Tempting, no? But I shift into “photographer mode,” and head out to find something to photograph — I’ll eat after dark when I return to camp.

While I do photograph on the first evening of these trips, I don’t generally travel that far to do it. This first evening was kind of lazy. I drove fifteen minutes to an area I know, and there I walked to the top of a nearby hill to check out the view, including these clouds. The sky is a fascinating subject in Death Valley. While big dramatic rain storms are rare (but not impossible) sometimes atmospheric conditions are affected by weather fronts that fall apart over the desert, leaving broken, dissipating clouds like these — and they can be quite dramatic.

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.