Tag Archives: park

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

Receding Dunes

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Receding Dunes
A subjective interpretation of a scene of receding sand dunes.

Receding Dunes. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A subjective interpretation of a scene of receding sand dunes.

Sand dunes are a compelling subject for just about every photographer I know, and almost certainly for every photographer who has visited them. They are a virtual laboratory of forms and textures and the interplay of light and shadow. While their colors can be quite subtle, the daily cycles of light write a continuous cycle of change on them between the morning and evening twilight hours. And they are adaptable to a wide range of interpretations — ostensibly “realistic” views, views that emphasize the naturally occurring (and sometimes not so naturally occurring!) colors, effects of wind, and the freedom of monochromatic interpretations.

One evening we decided to visit the dunes, and we planned to investigate a location I had spotted from a morning shoot — an area where a playa led to the edge of low dunes that built up one after another toward the center of the dunes. By the time we arrived I was becoming concerned that I might not be where I wanted to be during the best evening light, so I high-tailed it across the playa without stopping, heading straight for the area where I made this photograph. What appealed to me about the location was primarily this stair-step arrangement of gradually higher dunes, but also the fact that it was backed by distant back-lit mountains rather than by sky.

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: Nature

Triteleia

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Triteleia
Triteleia flowers in bloom, Pinnacles National Park

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

Triteleia flowers in bloom, Pinnacles National Park.

Recently I made a trip to Pinnacles National Park, located just east of California’s Salinas Valley. I have a very long history with this place, going back decades to my childhood visits when it was still a national monument. Back then the biggest attraction was “the caves…” which now don’t really interest me at all. In middle school I once rode a bicycle all the way down there in a small group, and we stayed in a campground on the east side of the park that is no longer a campground. (When it became a national park the camping was moved to another area that used to be outside the park boundaries.) In college I occasionally rock climbed there — an experience that included a bit of carelessness on my part that could have ended my life forty years ago.

This visit was a brief day trip, with some combination of hiking and photography as my goals. I arrived in the early morning, but not at the usual photographer’s pre-dawn hour, loaded up my pack with camera gear, and headed up the trail. My initial goal was some shaded canyons on the way to the small reservoir not far from the end of the road coming in from the east side, and my longer goal was to get up to the summit ridge of the “high peaks.” Along the way I hoped to be able to view and photograph the spring wildflower bloom that the park is known for, and I wasn’t disappointed. Although this season is heading toward its conclusion, and the green is rapidly heading toward brown, there were tons of flowers including these sprays of triteleia, or “pretty face,” 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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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dusk Sand Storm

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Dusk Sand Storm
Clouds from a desert sand storm climb into the Amargosa Mountains at dusk

Dusk Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a desert sand storm climb into the Amargosa Mountains at dusk.

Here is yet one more photograph from that wild early April evening in Death Valley National Park, when a sand storm was brewing in the upper Valley, starting near Stovepipe Wells and then moving northeast across the mountains of the Amargosa Range. Because I had advance warning of the conditions I was watching for this to develop, and I had a rough plan in place to make photographs of the event. That said, you never know exactly how these things will play out. For example, I had not anticipated the amount of “stuff” that would be blown up into the Amargosa Range, nor could I have predicted the potential for a last bit of twilight color.

During the first part of the event we headed up toward the Amargosa Range, taking the Beatty Cutoff toward the road to Daylight Pass. Up there the most impressive factors were the wind (it was howling!) and the general level of dust in the atmosphere. Eventually we worked out way back down into the valley and finally to near the source of the dust and sand near Stovepipe Wells. Often it such conditions I’ll try to stop just outside the worst of it and use a long lens to photograph into the conditions. That was the idea here, though there was a lot of wind and flying sand where I stopped, and I had to hide in the (slight) protection of the leeward side of my vehicle. Overall the scene was initially quite colorless, but at twilight a pink color came to the sky above and beyond the mountains.

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

California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass

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California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass
A California golden poppy flower amidst a field of spring grass

California Golden Poppy, Spring Grass. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A California golden poppy flower amidst a field of spring grass.

Everyone knows that the California Golden Poppy is this state’s “official flower.” I suppose there are two primary reasons. First, the flower’s name connects to California’s gold rush history. Second, these flowers are found all over the state, often in extraordinary abundance, especially during the spring following wet winters — which is just what we are experiencing this year. Visitors looking for these flowers often produce near-mob-scenes at some of the best-known locations. The good news is that you can find the flowers everywhere! I found this one in a place not far from my home where I often hike. But I could have found a fine poppy subject on a short neighborhood walk within five minutes of my home!

Perhaps to the surprise of many who try to photograph them, these flowers pose several distinct challenges — and that’s not counting the challenge of getting yourself down low enough on the ground to get up close. The color is so intense that it is easy to over-expose even when your camera tells you that you haven’t, and the result is blown-out loss of detail. (Hint: Underexpose a bit when photographing the poppies.) A second challenge is that the flowers close and night and only open in the morning when hit by sun — making it tricky to photograph them in the more manageable soft light. You could look for one in the shade… or you could make or carry your own shade, which is what I do. Third, the shape of the flower is a challenge, mainly in the depth-of-field realm. In many cases you want to throw the background out of focus in order to bring attention to the flower. However, because the flower doesn’t have a “flat” side, this tends to make parts of the flower out of focus, too. My solution here was to allow that to happen with the further petals, but to make the nearer, sharp petals the visual focus.

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.

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