Tag Archives: national park

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

Mountain Silhouette, Dust Storm

April 16, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A dust storm obscures desert mountains

Those who have been in a desert dust storm (not fun) or sand storm (worse!) will already know about this, but I wanted to share a photograph that shows a bit of how the desert environment is transformed by these conditions. The weather conditions on the first part of this visit to Death Valley had already been strange — the previous morning I had traveled to a high ridge top overlook before dawn, only to discover the atmosphere filled with such haze to a depth of perhaps 7000′, despite the fact that there did not seem to be a source of the dusty air nearby. On the day I made this photograph I took a long drive over a different ridge and then down into and through a long and deep canyon. The trip through the canyon as beautiful, but it is so narrow that my world was confined to what the interior of that canyon — I had little awareness of what might be going on outside.

Eventually I reached the end of this canyon after passing through a narrow slot area, and I emerged at the top of the canyon’s gigantic alluvial fan, hundreds of feet about the valley floor. I was surprised to find that the other side of the canyon was almost completely obscured by the backlit, dust-filled atmosphere. The far hills were visible, but only barely, and almost all details were gone. Such views carry an odd mixture of awe at the immensity of the glowing atmosphere and a kind of resignation to the uncomfortable and difficult aspects of working in such an atmosphere. As a photographer I try to focus on the visual power of the scene (while protecting my gear!) and I make photographs. As I made this one I felt that it was going to be a bit of a stretch since the contrast was so low and the details washed out so much — but this is, in fact, what one sees on an afternoon like this one.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dark Hills, Death Valley

April 14, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dark hills contrast with surrounding salt flats and alluvial fans

I know that “dark hills” is not a very poetic description for this landscape… but it does seem, at least, to be accurate! These formations have intrigued me for a few years, and I’ve been surprised to be able to photograph them all alone — despite visiting them regularly, I have never encountered another person there. I’m not sure why, except that there are some better known icons nearby, and perhaps they attract all of the others in the area.

In the past I tried to find out more about the source of the formations and my recollection (which I was unable to re-verify this time) is that they are the result of some kind of ancient tufa-like deposits formed on the bottom of the lake that once filled the basin that is now Death Valley. Their darker color contrasts strikingly with the surrounding terrain, and the material of the mounts has a finely layered quality. This example sits on a small playa where pooling water seems to have left salt deposits behind, though similar forms can also be found in slightly higher terrain nearby. In the evening the low light from the west angles across these mounds and makes their textures and curves a bit more visible.

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

Sand Patterns, Evening Light

April 9, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Low angle evening sun highlights the patterns of a Death Valley sand dune

On my second day in Death Valley National Park — my first full day of photography there on this trip — I made a long journey down into the southern reaches of the place, driving out on some less used back roads and getting into some places I had not visited before. Death Valley National Park is a huge landscape, and getting from place to place there can become quite a production, especially if you get off of the main paved roadways and get into the back-country on the many unpaved roads. In terms of absolute mileage it probably would not seem like I went all that far, but the actual driving time was many hours. I first headed up a canyon toward an abandoned ranch and mine area, then went far to the south and took an alternative route back to the north, using a long unpaved road though high desert country.

Late in the day I made it back to my basic but functional camp at Stovepipe Wells, took a short break, and decide that it might be good evening for some sand dune photography. The closest dunes to this area are iconic and are perhaps among the two or three best known sites in the park. I don’t necessarily avoid photographing that well-known view, but I’ve seen that so many times that these days I’m a lot more interested in looking for other subjects in the dunes. For the most part I pay almost no attention to the icon here, instead preferring to wander off into lower sections of the dunes. I walk slowly, following my instincts, watching to see what might appear. In the end it could be a large view across vast acreage of dunes, or it could be some tiny subject at my feet. There had been a big wind and dust storm during the past 24 hours, and I found lots of newly made patterns in the sand. I photographed this subject in evening light, when the low angle sun highlighted the patterns of newly made ripples in the sand.

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

Dunes and Mountains, Evening

April 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dunes and rugged desert mountains in evening light, Death Valley National Park

I made this photograph near the end of a very long day in Death Valley National Park. Most of the day was not spent photographing, though I did make some photographs. In keeping with a personal resolution to visit areas of the park that I had not previously seen I had gotten up early and gone to a remove valley that is apparently not visited all that much. My initial idea of visiting the specific place came, as it often does, on what was essentially an accident and a whim. While reading about the park I came across the name of the place, realized that I hadn’t heard that name before, looked it up and figured out where it was, and decided to go there. Since I’m not sharing photographs of the location in this post, the specific details aren’t important, though I’ll share that it was a long drive on rather rough roads — and I finally ended up at a place where the road simply ended in a very quiet little valley high in the desert mountains.

After spending a bit of time alone in that spot it was time to retrace my route back to where I was camped, and by the time I finished the return drive it was almost time to think about photography in evening light. After hours of driving earlier in the day I decided to shoot nearby, and I ended up at these familiar dunes, though perhaps not in the area that most folks go. In fact, during the hour or more that I spent wandering around here with my camera I did not encounter a single other person — though I could see people off in the distance at times. Here I found a spot with an almost clear view across the complex shapes of the dunes, looking toward the rugged mountain landscape along the east side of the valley, and I photographed through the last sunlight and into the early evening.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: national park

Mountain Silhouette, Dust Storm

Dark Hills, Death Valley

Sand Patterns, Evening Light

Dunes and Mountains, Evening

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