Tag Archives: national

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

Two Hikers at the Summit of Death Valley Dunes

December 28, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Two hikers take in the evening landscape of Death Valley National Park from the Summit of the dunes.

Many times I might have been disappointed to have two hikers enter “my” scene in such beautiful dusk light, but here I feel like they crystalize the scene. In a larger version of the photograph the two of them seem to stand silently facing the rugged vastness of Death Valley – and I think their presence invites us to think of ourselves in the scene and to imagine our own reaction to it.

My favorite time to photograph these iconic dunes near Stovepipe Wells is in the evening during a brief interval right around sunset and lasting a while after the sun drops behind the peaks to the west. The light softens, especially if there is a bit of haze in the sky, and the dunes that are so bright and harsh at other times of day take on a smoother and softer quality and their subtle colors become visible.

This photograph is 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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay Fog

December 26, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Alcatraz Island is almost completely obscured by San Francisco Bay fog drifting beneath blue sky.

This is another of what I sort of think of as my “barely there” photographs, in which I work with subjects that are almost completely obscured by fog, mist, rain, or clouds. Some of my Yosemite Valley photographs from a rainy weekend near the end of this past October are in the same category.

You can experience an astonishing range of atmospheric conditions in and around San Francisco Bay. The patterns at this time of year (the very end of fall, and more like winter conditions) are quite different from summer. As often as not, the fog in the winter comes from inland rather than drifting in through the Golden Gate, and it is more related to the tule fog that can sit in the Central Valley during the winter, sometimes for weeks. On the other hand, after the passage of a winter storm (which brings its own impressive conditions) the winter air over the Bay can be crystal clear. And frequently the conditions can change rapidly, as was the case on this morning. When I arrived in the Marin Headlands above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge before dawn, I was initially a bit disappointed that the conditions were too clear! Except for a bank of clouds right above San Francisco (the subject of some other recently posted photographs) the rest of the Bay was almost completely clear. But then, at first imperceptibly and then very quickly, fog began to condense out of the air above the bay. In a short period of time subjects that had been clearly visible were completely obscured. Within moments after making this photograph, Alcatraz was not longer visible.

This photograph is 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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Fog, San Francisco, Dawn

December 20, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Winter fog illuminated by dawn light engulfs the skyline of San Francisco.

The conditions changed radically during the half hour or so during which I stopped on my way to Muir Woods to photograph the San Francisco skyline from above the Golden Gate Bridge. I was initially concerned that the morning would be too clear, since I am usually more interested in scenes with varied atmosphere. When I arrived it was mostly clear, though there was a bit of low fog out over the bay and some low clouds clustered above San Francisco, especially the downtown area where the tops of buildings were in the clouds.

I made a series of photographs of the skyline using my longest lens – others may appear here before long. This was one of the last ones I was able to make as the clouds thickened and eventually blocked my view completely. (What had started as a largely bright and clear early morning eventually evolved into a very foggy scene.)

This photograph is 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: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Fern and Redwood Log

December 19, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A fern drapes across a redwood log littered with leaves and needles at Muir Woods National Monument.

I’m always a sucker for the interesting forms of the ferns in the redwood forest, here at Muir Woods National Monument and elsewhere. This curving example was lying across the surface of an old, dead fallen redwood trunk, and was accompanied by some brown ferns, a few odd redwood needles, and what I think may be a brown bay leaf.

Although this was shot near the very end of fall, the atmosphere at Muir Woods was very much that of winter. There was just a bit of thin fog floating around here and there, and on the forest floor beneath the giant trees it was very damp and quiet and dark. (If you want evidence of the low light… note that this was a 15 second exposure!)

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

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