Tag Archives: pink

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

Badlands Detail

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Badlands Detail, Death Valley
“Badlands Detail” — Photograph of details of badlands gullies in soft morning light, Death Valley National Park.

The pink color of the formations in this photograph was a big part of its appeal. It was early morning, and the direct sunlight had worked its way back across the valley to the tops of ridges nearly, and the light’s warm color washed over the nearly-white material of these ridges and valleys. Again, the Death Valley landscape, which can be rather subtly colored, served as a canvas for the effects of colorful light.

The location is at Zabriskie Point — I’m not giving away any secrets by mentioning this well-known location. It is one of the two or three most popular places in the park to view the sunrise. It was an unanticipated turn of events that brought me to this location, and I was originally going somewhere else when I set out before dawn.

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

First Light, Panamint Mountains

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First Light, Panamint Mountains, Death Valley
“First Light, Panamint Mountains” — The first sunrise light on Rogers Peak and the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park.

How many times have I watched for this first light as it touches the peaks and ridges of the Panamint Mountains before working its way down to the floor of Death Valley? I have no idea, but I’ve been going there for something like 25 years now, so it must be quite a few times! It never gets old.

The highest point in this photograph is snow-capped Rogers Peak. The highest summit in the park, Telescope Peak, is just out of sight to the left. Surprisingly, there are communications facilities on top of Rogers Peak, and in a higher resolution version of this photograph you can see the towers on the very summit.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: Nature

Imaginary Floral Landscape

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Imaginary Floral Landscape
“Imaginary Floral Landscape” — An imaginary floral lenscape of receeding spring petals.

This feels like a floral version of my “imaginary landscape” photographs, in which I push the interpretation of the image significantly, to the point that I feel it is best to acknowledge what is going on. (To many photographers and flower-lovers it is obvious that this is not a “what I saw” photograph, but more a “what I imagined” photo.) The starting point was a photograph I made using a macro lens and shooting across the top of a group of flowers.

The boundary between real and imaginary in photographs is much less obvious that some observers may realize. If you know what you are looking at, it is not a secret that photographs are usually the photographers interpretation of the subject, not a simple reproduction. To be honest, this is more or less a feature of photographs — they cannot really be full, objective records of things, and some element of interpretation figures in virtually all photographs.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Nature

Pink Tulip

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Pink Tulip
“Pink Tulip” — A pink tulip blooms in late winter.

Patty is the real flower and macro photographer in our household, but sometimes I tag along and give it my best shot. There is a large garden on the grounds of an old San Francisco Peninsula estate that is a favorite of hers — she has a membership and visits regularly to photograph whatever is in season. In early March that meant it was tulip season, so I accompanied her for a morning of photographing these (and a few other kinds of) flowers.

We had great conditions for this subject. Direct, harsh sunlight is not your friend when photographing the subtle colors, shapes, and textures of these flowers — and this morning featured overcast, a bit of light rain, occasional muted sunlight, and lots of shady areas. I photographed this tulip in wonderful soft light that tends to fill in shadows and reveal details that would be missing in high contrast 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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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