Tag Archives: park

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

Sunset Sand Storm

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Sunset Sand Storm
“Sunset Sand Storm” — A sunset sand storm partially obscures sand dunes in Death Valley National Park.

This is another photograph from the tremendous wind and sand storm that blew though on our last afternoon in Death Valley at the end of March. These storms are common there, and if you spend much time in the park you have a good chance of experiencing one. If the prospect sounds exciting, well, it is… but it can also be very uncomfortable and even dangerous, and the romantic notion of wandering the wind-whipped dunes during a sand storm is quickly trumped down by the reality of flying sand and dust.

I positioned myself just outside the maelstrom and put a long lens on my camera. The winds were so strong — likely in the 50mph range — that my tripod was useless, especially with the long lens. I resorted to handholding the camera, switching on image stabilization, bracing myself against the nearest solid object, and trying to time exposures for brief moments when the gale diminished a bit.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Canyon Narrows

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Canyon Narrows
A desert mountain wash winds through narrows between tall cliffs, Death Valley National Park.

Canyon Narrows. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A desert mountain canyon winds through narrows between tall cliffs, Death Valley National Park.

Believe it or not, this is Titus Canyon, through which a remarkable road passes. The road runs almost thirty miles from near the Nevada border, over mountains, past old mines, and eventually emerging into Death Valley. Or at least it used to. We hiked into the canyon from the west end in late March — when it was closed to vehicles due to damage in a big storm last year. The road is essentially obliterated, and the canyon is as it was in pre-road days.

This photograph is an example of a principle that occurred to me many years ago when photographing redwoods and considering how to portray their extreme height. The counter-intuitive principle sometimes turns out to be, “go wide, not tall.” I feel that a wide landscape format creates a subjective sense of “it is so tall that it won’t fit in the frame.” In this case, I think it also emphasizes the twisting, meandering path that the canyon takes through the narrows.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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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, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm

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Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm
An early-spring mountain snow storm clears from desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains, Clearing Storm. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An early-spring mountain snow storm clears from desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph comes from a morning in Death Valley when the light, for the most part, was singularly uninspiring. I knew it would be cloudy from the weather forecast, and when I went out before dawn there was just enough light to confirm this. But it was the last morning in the valley, and I was determined to at least see if anything would crop up. I loaded up and walked into sand dunes… where the light remained resolutely gray, the skies overcast, and it even rained a bit. But sometimes a break in awful light can produce glorious light…

… which is precisely what happened for a few moments as the light from the rising sun found some holes in the clouds and illuminated the summit of desert mountains, where the remnants of a passing storm were still dropping snow and rain. It was a reminder that going out on the unlikely days can sometimes produce something wonderful!

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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, Photographs: Southern California

Badlands, Desert Valley

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Badlands, Desert Valley
The view across eroded badlands hill and up a broad wash toward desert mountains.

Badlands, Desert Valley. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The view across eroded badlands hills and up a broad wash toward desert mountains.

This scene has intrigued and challenged me for quite a while, and this is certainly not the first time I have photographed it. I is near an area where I frequently photograph in Death Valley, and for a variety of reasons I typically arrive at this spot after completing work in nearly locations. The view opens suddenly from a high perspective at a turn in the route, and I hardly ever pass without stopping.

As can be the case in the desert landscape distance, atmospheric contact, lighting, and subjects of low contrast are both pluses and minuses. Landscapes that may look well-defined in person are not always easy to translate to a photograph. This time I decided to render this subject in monochrome, which gives me more control over some of these parameters and try to register the depth of the scene.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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.