Tag Archives: playa

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

Lake Manly Shoreline, Desert Mountains

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Lake Manly Shoreline, Desert Mountains
“Lake Manly Shoreline, Desert Mountains” The dark Panamint Mountains rise in the distance beyond the shoreline of ephemeral Lake Manly.

Typically I might simply not attempt to photograph this scene. The glaring sunlight, while somewhat filtered by the clouds, was brightly lighting the white sand deposits along the shoreline of Lake Manly. Distance, haze, and backlight combined to mute the details of the Panamint Mountains. And this light was harsh, not the softer light of early morning or evening. But somehow I felt that the composition and the drama of the light and atmosphere held some promise.

The salt deposits reminded me of important things about this valley. They were a reminder — as is the water of ephemeral Lake Manly — that water played a major role in the formation of this place. And, as high as the water of the lake was at this moment, the yet higher salt deposits made it clear that this is not an unprecedented thing, and that even higher lake levels are still probably possible.

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

Edge of Lake Manly

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Edge of Lake Manly
“Edge of Lake Manly” — Photographed from high above, the waters of temporary Lake Manly meet the edge of Death Valley salt flats.

The star attraction of the season in Death Valley has been the reemergence of historic Lake Manly in the hottest, driest, and lowest area of the valley near Badwater. Geologists tell us that the original version of this lake once filled the valley floor, and there’s abundant evidence: old waterlines high on valley hillsides, the tufa formations, and the salt flats themselves. A huge and unusual tropical storm brought heavy rains to the area last year, and more recent precipitation has helped to keep it going.

Since seeing this lake is such a rare event, I made it the focus of my recent visit to the park. I photographed it several times, from different points of view, at different times of day, and in different conditions. I made this photograph very early in the morning from the overlook at Dantes View. As the shadows receded and sunlight arrived on the lake and surrounding terrain I made a series of photographs with long lenses, highlighting the abstract patterns and colors of the flooded playa.

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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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Evening Sky and Haze, Death Valley

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Evening Sky and Haze, Death Valley
“Evening Sky and Haze, Death Valley” — Sunset sky, distant mountains, clouds and haze — Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park is a huge place — not just as measured by its total area but also by the immense spaces we view there. In many places we look across dozens of miles toward objects so far away that they are obscured by the atmosphere even on clear days. We might look at a “nearby” destination and think, “I’ll walk there.” If we try, hours later our intended destination will still be in the distance.

This photograph, made at sunset in the central part of the great valley, is an example. If I had gotten in my car and started driving, it would have taken me an hour and a half or longer to reach the base of those mountains in the distance. In this scene the valley has already fallen into the shadows of the Panamint range and a final bit of soft side-light glances across the large wash in the foreground.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

From Dunes to Mountains

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From Dunes to Mountains
The view across the floor of Death Valley to eroded hills.

From Dunes to Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The view across the floor of Death Valley to eroded hills.

I made this photograph in the very late afternoon, just before sunset, on a relatively quiet and calm evening. These short dunes lie near the end of a large dune field that is quite popular with visitors, but their small size gives them a kind of landscape anonymity, and not many people visit or photograph them.

There is a lot of interesting geography/geology in this little scene, and it is part of what caught my attention. The bottom half of the photograph includes the valley floor, a large, sandy playa that, in places, gets enough blowing sand to form dunes. Beyond that, many miles in the distance, a large alluvial fan rises from the playa to the base of the hills, where valleys have spilled material over millennia to form this massive tilting structure. At the very top is a range of short, rugged hills. Out of the photo above them is a very tall range of 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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