Tag Archives: nature

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

Sand Waves

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Sand Waves
Rising waves of sand in soft light, Death Valley National Park

Sand Waves. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rising waves of sand in soft light, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph comes from a memorable visit to a remote location in Death Valley National Park about eight years ago. I was in the park during the first few days of January. I saw far fewer other visitors than I usually encounter there these days, and I experienced some very cold temperatures! A few days earlier the thermometer in my vehicle registered at freezing as I drove below sea level very early one morning. On the morning after I made this photograph I finally got around to checking the temperature at around 9:00AM after the sun had come up, only to discover that it was still in the low twenties!

When I arrived at this location in the late afternoon there was only one other small group of visitors. (They were gone when I came back from photographing, and I had the place completely to myself that night.) I figured out where I would camp that night, and then I grabbed my photography gear and headed out into the nearby landscape of sand with distant vistas of playa and mountains. It was late enough the I soon found myself photographing the dunes in soft, post-sunset 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

Canyon and Mountains, Morning

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Canyon and Mountains, Morning
A Death Valley canyon and mountains, backlit by early morning winter light.

Canyon and Mountains, Morning. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Death Valley canyon and mountains, backlit by early morning winter light.

I have a bit of a long relationship with this spot in Death Valley. I stop there on almost every visit to the park, typically either very early in the morning (arriving before dawn) or else for last light in the evening. I’ve been there when the wind was strong enough to make it difficult to walk, when it was unbelievably cold, on still warm days, in blah conditions that made me ask “why?,” — and on one memorable occasion I had to turn back because there was too much snow!

As a photographic subject this landscape is greatly dependent on conditions of atmosphere and light. in “normal” light in the middle of the day it is a gigantic vista but rarely a compelling photograph. But early in the morning very interesting things can happen, especially when the backlight is strong and there is just enough haze in the air to make the atmosphere glow.

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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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.

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

Twisting Canyon

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Twisting Canyon
Morning light shines into the bottom of a desert canyon.

Twisting Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light shines into the bottom of a desert canyon.

One of the things I like about this photograph is that it gives virtually no clues about when it was made — it could be a burning hot summer day, or it could be a winter day. In addition, there isn’t much to provide scale — is this canyon small and intimate or is it gigantic? The truth is that I made the photograph on a very cold winter morning, and the photograph is of of the bottom of a very large Death Valley canyon that winds up into mountains.

I think there is a lot going on in this scene, and with most of the components you could regard them for what they are or you could consider them for the graphic contribution. The bottom of the canyon winds back and fort and then disappears around a bend. The backlit top edges of gullies descend from left to right at the bottom of the scene, but descend in contrary motion above that. There is more depth to the scene than might first be apparent — a more distant slope sits in the upper left corner. And the faces are full of bent and twisted strata that have been tilted to a 45 degree angle.

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.

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

Sunrise, Panamint Mountains

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Sunrise, Panamint Mountains
Sunrise light on teh summit of the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park

Sunrise, Panamint Mountains. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunrise light on the summit of the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph comes from the same spectacular early morning that produced another one that I shared a few days ago. I made this photograph a few minutes later as the first direct dawn sunlight began to strike the peaks and ridges of the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley National Park. This morning was a prime example of the rapid and often surprising transitions that occur at the beginning and ending of the day. When I arrived here well before dawn I could tell it was cloudy, but I could imagine a sunrise ranging from gray and dim to what actually happened. And once the process began and the good light appeared, it was a matter of working quickly over a short period before the light again became more mundane.

The experience of making this photograph (and others in the set from that morning) is also a reminder that in order to experience exceptional conditions you really need to be out there a lot. I’ve been to this location many times, including others when the conditions ranged between “blah” and “lovely, but I’ve seen this before.” If you just go once, you have no idea what you’ll encounter. But if you keep going back, even when you aren’t sure how it will turn out, the odds are that eventually you will encounter one of the outlier spectacular moments.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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