Tag Archives: national monument

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Trees and Redrock — Four Photographs

November 22, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is another multi-photograph post — in this one I share four photographs from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that feature trees in various back-country landscapes ranging from the canyons and rock formations to one otherwise perhaps un-notable stop near a campsite where I stayed.

Colorful autumn foliage on a cottonwood tree next to a creek at the bottom of a deep sandstone canyon

This stout cottonwood tree grows in the wash at the bottom of this deep canyon, at the base of huge sandstone walls that tower above and wrap around curves in the canyon’s path. I had stopped here to photograph a different tree — it is among those shared in this group — and after finishing with that tree I looked over here to see this one standing against the worn and curving rock shapes at the base of the canyon walls.

Fractured and sandstone canyon walls arch above a cottonwood tree with fall foliage

This is one of two photographs of this tree that I like. (The other is a in portrait orientation, and may give a better sense of the trees size and the relative scale of the huge sandstone canyon wall.) The tree grows in the bottom of the wash and right up against the canyon walls, with several arch shapes in the sandstone creating a sort of frame for it.

A solitary oak tree grows from a crack in Utah sandstone

This photograph comes with a bit of a personal story. In the morning we (a group of six photographers) had departed our camp on foot to hike down a nearby wash and drop into a deeper canyon. Although the morning began well, with a pleasant walk down the wash, followed by some exploration as we tried to find a good way to drop into the deeper canyon, I suddenly developed a knee problem — I decided to remain behind as the group went on. I walked back to camp, making photographs along the way, and then drove to some other places along our gravel road looking for other subjects. In the late afternoon I returned to camp, though no one else had yet returned. So I decided to do a bit of exploring near camp, and I ended up at the base of a sandstone face as the sun dipped behind mountains to the west — and I photographed this tree in the low light before heading back to camp.

A cottonwood snag in red rock country

On our first night together as a group in a back-country area of Utah we set up camp and then headed out to photograph something as the evening approached. We drove, ending up at a spot where large sandstone formations are backed by an even larger area of smooth sandstone surfaces, interrupted by potholes and other features. At one point we were in one of those locations where the number of obvious photographic subjects was limited — basically, there was a beautiful pothole with a true and there was this old snag. With six photographers, interesting questions arise. Do we all shoot the same subject? If one person shoots it first, is it OK for the next to photograph from the same angle? How could we each take this common subject and do something different with it? I initially resolved to not shoot this snag, but a bit later I came back and gave in to temptation! ;-)

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon Bend and Tree

November 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A box elder with autumn foliage grows along the stream at the bend in a red rock canyon

There are many patterns familiar to those who enter these canyons. In many cases, the creeks and rivers meander back and forth, and over time they may have cut paths deep into the sandstone layers that also meander in the same way. Walking along such a small creek, looking up, and realizing that a winding canyon hundreds of feet deep was cut but the little creek gives you a sense of deep time… and also a clear indication that such creeks are not always so gentle. The winding patterns also lead you on as you descend the creeks. Each time you round a bend like this one you get a view further along in the canyon… to the next bend, where the creek turns out of sight again. And you say/think to yourself, “just one more bend and then I’ll turn around.” So you keep going and round that next bend, where you can see a bit further into the canyon… to the next bend. And you say/think to yourself, “just one more bend and then I’ll turn around…”

This creek doesn’t follow the perfect pattern of consecutive meanders that are found in some canyons, but it did in this section where I found a single box elder tree growing at the edge of a rock that butted up against the wetter, sandy section of the water course. And far above, the gigantic walls of this canyon mirrored, as expected, the curves of the bottom of the canyon, and warm light bouncing among the canyon walls filtered down here to gently illuminate the depths of this red canyon.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon Country Gulch, Evening

November 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light in a gulch among red rock hills.

I can credit a knee injury for this photograph. Several days earlier I had been photographing in a slot canyon far from this location. As often is the case, there was a lot of the typical thick, slimy mud in the bottom of the canyon, although the tracks of other visitors had created a drier and less slippery path around the worst of it. However, at one point my attention strayed from the path (as it almost always does when I’m looking for photographs!) and one foot missed the trail and landed in a bit of sloping mud. This mud may just be the most slippery surface on the planet, and my foot immediately slipped few feed toward the bottom of the mud and a pool before I managed to arrest the slide with my other leg — in the process putting way too much lateral stress on my knee. At the time it didn’t hurt much, but fast-forward to perhaps five days later and…

… as we headed down a gully to toward another big canyon the knee started to act up, and at a point where the rest of the group dropped down into the narrower portion of this canyon my knee said, “No.” I let the group go on, explored a bit in the flatlands above the canyon, walked out, and went elsewhere to photograph. In the evening I returned to camp before the rest of the group and I had some time to kill before sundown, so I wandered off from camp into some beautiful nearby red rock and spend an hour quietly photographing in the evening light, where I found this little gulch with a lone cottonwood tree at its far end.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Creekside Fern

March 25, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone fern plant grows on the bank of the creek in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

I photographed this solitary fern against the background of the main Muir Woods creek flowing across a shallow section of rocky creek bottom. Sometimes I set myself a challenge of trying to find as many photographs as possible in one small area. I paused in this one spot for perhaps 15 minutes or longer, barely moving my tripod as I composed several photographs focusing on details of the surrounding scene. In addition to this fern, I made a series of photographs of new leaves on understory trees against a background of tall redwoods and I photographed the forest floor which was in places covered with redwood sorrel, ferns, and trillium.

(Added later:) Not sure how other photographers approach photographing in a place like this, but here is a bit about how I do it. I walk very slowly. I stop and look around. I make myself look up and down. I go through a sort of mental checklist of potential subjects: tree trunks, close ups of small features, critters, light, people, foliage/flowers, water, juxtapositions of forms and angles, and so on. I spend far more time looking than photographing – sometimes I may amble for a half hour or so at the start before I even take my camera out of the bag.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Tag Archives: national monument

Trees and Redrock — Four Photographs

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Canyon Bend and Tree

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Canyon Country Gulch, Evening

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Creekside Fern

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

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