Tag Archives: national

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: White Mountains

From the Panamints to the Sierra, Evening

April 4, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Sierra Nevada in evening light as seen from Aguereberry Point in Death Valley National Park’s Panamint Range.

I made this photograph from Aguereberry Point shortly before sunset. Aguereberry Point is a lonely prominence over 6000′ above Death Valley, high in the Panamint Mountain range, a place of astonishing panoramic views – and often some significant winds. As I drove the gravel road to the point late in the afternoon I saw three or four other vehicles heading the other direction, but when I arrived at the point a bit more than an hour before sunset no one else was there.

Having photographed here a few times previously, I am becoming more familiar with the challenges and the opportunities of shooting here. One of the challenges – as is the case in many spots in Death Valley – is that certain subjects seem to be “photographable” at very specific times and only for short intervals. One of the most interesting views from Aguereberry is southeast down into Trail Canyon and on to the lower slopes of Wildrose Peak beyond. This is wild, rugged, austere terrain. However, because it lies on the east side of this range the light changes quickly from a washed out blast of daytime sun to sudden deep shadows as the sun drops behind the higher ridges of the Panamints. (Trail Canyon is not seen in this photograph.)

Another challenge is that, impressive and overwhelming as the scale of this grand scene is, it can be difficult to pull interesting compositions out of it. I tend to work with longer lenses here, both to isolate smaller areas out of the huge landscape and to compress distance. In this photograph, the silhouetted crest of the highest part of the Sierra Nevada range is on the horizon, with the intervening ridges of the Panamint Range and others probably including the Inyo Mountains and the ridge just west of Panamint Valley.

And, since I tend towards those large and long lenses… wind is an issue! And on top of Aguereberry Point there is nothing to stop the often strong winds of Death Valley. On this evening the winds were howling, so I found a spot below some rocks where it was a bit less windy and then spent a lot time waiting for momentary lulls in the wind when I could make photographs.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Textures

Zabriskie Point Gully, Morning Light

April 1, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Morning sun back-lights the dense pattern of folds in a small gully at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

In some ways I think this is one of the more subtle and complex of the various photographs I have made that isolate small sections of the Zabriskie Point landscape, especially the eroded patterns of the small gullies below the main viewing area. This photograph, like many in this series, was made after the normal “dawn light” time period, and at this time the sun is higher in the sky. It begins to back-light the tops of the furrows and gullies and the brighter light reflects down into the lower portions of the gully. There are a tremendous number of overlapping ridges and the color variations are quite large, though subtle at the same time. Some areas have a very blue cast, being in shadow and lit almost completely by the open blue sky. Others take on warmer tones, especially if they are illuminated by light reflected from the warm-tones earth. An area of thin clouds was floating above the scene and its shadow slightly softened and muted the light that otherwise might have been quite stark.

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

Flock of Snow Geese, Winter Sky

March 27, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of snow geese against the partly cloudy winter sky above the Merced National Wildlife Reserve, California.

Yes, yet another in the series of photographs of migratory birds above the Merced National Wildlife Reserve made on a winter evening in February. While I missed the “fly in” (though saw it happening a ways north of my position) I did watch hundreds and hundreds of birds of all types pass overhead. Every time I would start to wonder “where are the birds?” or worry about whether I would miss the fly in, another flock would appear and traverse the sky above me.

It was my good fortune – certainly little careful planning was involved! – to be out here during a brief evening window of interesting light and sky as a storm cleared. In fact, as I drove towards the Refuge I at first thought that some of the larger clouds to the west might block the evening light or even bring a bit of rain. However, as sunset approached the clouds continued to thin and I ended up with a beautiful sky full of broken clouds that were gently illuminated as the day ended.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Corn Lilies – Sierra Nevada

March 26, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

High Sierra corn lilies grow profusely near a waterlogged meadow in the high country of Yosemite National Park.

I had spotted this little meadow area on my way to photograph earlier in the morning at Tenaya Lake, so on my return I decided to wander down into this wet, meadowy area where a small creek flows in the early summer season. As I walked up the stream I came upon large and lush stands of corn lily plants in a boggy area where the stream turned and twisted through a flat area.

I have long been a fan of these plants. I’m fascinated by them at every phase of their annual life cycle, from the time when they first poke up from ground newly free of snow, through this phase when they grow thick and wildly green, to the first hints of brown at the tips of the leaves (which always seem to come a bit too early), to the time in late August when they begin to turn brown and yellow and hint at the coming fall, to the dry stalks that fall over in late September and October.

It is somewhat hard to give up the beautiful green color when you photograph the plants at the peak of growth, as these were when I photographed them at the end of June. However, I like the way that black and white abstracts the curving and sweeping shapes of the plants. (And I always think of John Sexton’s wonderful corn lily photograph when I work with this subject!)

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