Tag Archives: photo

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

Natural Bridge Canyon

December 30, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A gravel wash in the bottom of the narrow confines of Natural Bridge Canyon, Death Valley National Park.

These narrow canyons, of which there are a number of great examples in Death Valley, can provide some interesting photographic opportunities, but they also can pose some real challenges. Much of the rock in these places is, frankly, rather drab and of low contrast. However, at the right time of day and on a day with the right light and in the right parts of these canyons, the glowing light reflected down into the canyons from overhead rock walls can produce warm and diffused light and bring interesting colors to the place.

I made an unusual decision to use a very long focal length for this photograph – it was shot with a 100-400mm zoom at 330 mm. More typically I would probably tend to use wide angle focal lengths in the confines of such a canyon. However, because I wanted to juxtapose the different colors and shapes of the sections of canyon wall along the narrow and twisting wash, I chose the long lens to compress the distance. Although I think the photograph creates a feeling that I’m positioned very close to the foreground rocks and the darker bit of canyon wall on the left, I was actually quite a distance back from this spot.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Rugged Terrain, Lower Titus Canyon

December 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Details of the rugged cliffs and walls rising above lower Titus Canyon in Death Valley National Park.

Titus Canyon Road is one of the marvels of Death Valley National Park. It begins in high desert of Amargosa Valley near the town of Beatty and the ghost town of Rhyolite, winds over the summit of the Grapevine Mountains, drops precipitously into upper Titus Canyon, passes a number of historically interesting sites, passes through a very narrow and deep section in the lower canyon, and then suddenly emerges into the vastness of Death Valley.

In the lower section of the canyon, the wash becomes very narrow, passing through a twisty slot canyon and is, in places, barely wide enough for the one-lane gravel road. Here the walls of the canyon press tightly together and rise steeply for hundreds of feet. Some places are so deep that the sun rarely penetrates to the bottom.

Fortunately for the preservation of the canyon the road is horrible, at least if you are used to more civilized driving. It is a one-way road and the whole thing is gravel. Sections are in decent shape, but it other places the road passes over narrow and twisty sections next to precipitous drop-offs and then dives steeply into deep canyons. At times the route is closed after heavy rains or other conditions that make the route impassable.

Fortunately, the section that is perhaps the most impressive in many ways – the deep slot canyon near the bottom – is easily accessible by foot from Death Valley. After a short drive up to the canyon entrance on a gravel road to a parking area, you can enter the canyon on foot and walk up as far as you want. This photograph was made within the lower mile of the canyon during the late morning, when the light penetrates more deeply into the canyon and creates a glow on the canyon walls.

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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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Red Tile and Door

December 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A stripe of bright red tiles and dilapidated doors in San Franciso’s Mission District.

This photograph was made early in 2010, and is one that I dredged up from the “archives” during the year-end process of reviewing all of my thousands of 2010 raw files. I had been in San Francisco with some spare time and I found myself in the Mission. This area is a great resource for photography, so I set out on foot to look for subjects along the crowded streets of this neighborhood. A small girl behind the heavy screen door on the left (barely visible in this photograph) first caught my attention, but I also found the juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical lines interesting along with the very weathered and distressed doors and walls. The thin line of brilliant red tiles was striking against the dark and dingy background.

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