Tag Archives: nature

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

Panamint Sky

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Panamint Sky
Sunrise sky above the Panamint Mountains.

Panamint Sky. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise sky above the Panamint Mountains.

This morning, about eight years ago, was one of those that reminds me why it is worth getting up in the darkened driving long distances to arrive at a location before the sun rises. I arrived along the summit of the Panamint Mountains very early, and shortly it became clear that the sky might do something very special. A layer of broken clouds was spread across the sky, perfectly positioned to be illuminated by the first sunlight, and to my north the lines of clouds converged above the horizon.

Several years ago I shared another photograph from this morning — if I recall correctly it was a panoramic format image of the same clouds, separated from this on in time by perhaps a minute. That is, of course, enough to change things considerably in this evolving 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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Nevada

Amargosa Sky, Morning

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Amargosa Sky, Morning
“Amargosa Sky, Morning: — Early morning sky above Amargosa Valley and the Amargosa Range mountains.

Although this photograph is from eight years ago, I recall this morning as if it were last week. One day during my annual spring sojourn in Death Valley I decided to get up early and drive out of the park to the east, passing though the triangle of the park that extends into Nevada to get to one of the many ghost town sites in this region. The place gets a fair number of visitors — to the extent that it has more recently been fenced off to protect it — but on this morning I was just about the only person there.

Although I was there mainly to photograph the decaying structures, the remnants of this town sit on the edge of a vast expanse of open desert landscape. This view looks across the wide Amargosa River Valley toward the Amargosa Range that runs along a good part of the eastern boundary of the park. The light was stunning just after sunrise, and thin clouds were visible for a while until stronger light made them less visible as the sun rose higher.

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.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature

Mallow

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Mallow
Spring mallow blossoms, Northern California.

Mallow. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring mallow blossoms, Northern California.

I photographed these wildflowers last spring, right here in the San Francisco Bay Area at one of the local county parks where I frequently hike. In retrospect, there must have been so many wildflowers in bloom on the day I made the photograph that I neglected to make any photographs of the surrounding landscape at all — and the close-up photographs of wildflowers only provide sufficient clues to narrow it down to either of two nearby locations.

It seems like whenever I photograph wildflowers with a macro lens that I end up with a few surprises in the image — some tiny critter than I wasn’t paying attention to while focused on the flowers.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature

Fairy Lanterns, Spring

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Fairy Lanterns, Spring
A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

Fairy Lanterns, Spring. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cluster of spring fairy lantern wildflowers.

These are among my favorite spring wildflowers here in my part of the world — the San Francisco Bay Area. The photograph is from last spring, as this year my opportunities to go out and photograph wildflowers have been much more limited. I did photograph flowers like these at the very beginning of their cycle, when they were still mostly buds and before the social lock-down commenced. Even when the rules were relaxed to allow hikes, the location of these flowers is one in which social distancing could be difficult to maintain.

I photographed this little group of flowers at a local spot where I first “discovered” this kind of flower over a decade ago. Oddly perhaps, given that I’ve hiked in these hills for decades, I was unaware of the fairy lantern flowers and surprised to see them. These grow a long a narrow and somewhat steep trail that heads through a narrow ravined, a place that is often in shade but with a bit of sunlight each day.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.