Tag Archives: print

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

Titus Canyon

April 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Titus Canyon narrows, Death Valley National Park

In something of a departure for me… I have named a location. Enjoy it while it lasts! ;-) The lower portion of this canyon is one of the popular destinations in Death Valley National Park, and with good reason. This section is very narrow and deep, and aside from the lack of red colored rock it might remind one in some ways of similar canyons in other places such as the Southwest. There are essentially two ways to get to this section. More than once I’ve driven to the canyon entrance, loaded up a pack with camera gear and water, and walked in. This is a great way to experience the lower canyon, which is the area with the most impressive canyon walls and narrow sections. I always see much more when I’m on foot, and there are a lot of subtle things to look for in this part of the lower canyon.

The alternative way to get here involves a fair amount of driving on a road that is rough enough that it could make some drivers uncomfortable. (It is not a place for low-slung suburban vehicles, to be sure.) The one-way road through the canyon begins in the higher country of the Amargosa Valley near the eastern boundary of the park. It crosses the flat desert terrain as it heads toward the mountains and soon begins to twist and turn through valleys, up slopes, and over ridges. A few sections might test the nerves of drivers not used to such roads, especially the sections just before and after Red Pass. Once over the pass the road drops into the canyon and begins its descent toward the Valley. Near the end the road passes through the section that you could hike into from below, a section that seems like a very improbable place for an automobile roadway — and this photograph shows part of that segment of the trip.

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.

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

Creosote Bush, Sand, Mountains

April 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone creosote bush among sand dunes and desert mountains in evening light

A photograph of one small thing in the landscape may evoke clearer and more powerful memories of the experience of the place than a photograph that shows the whole scene. For me, this is one of those photographs. Unless you know the area quite well, you would be hard pressed to identify exactly where the photograph was made or precisely what we are seeing here beyond “creosote bush,” “sand dunes,” and “hazy, distant mountains.” And you could find a similar little scene in innumerable other locations. Perhaps this might let you, as its lets me, use this little scene as the starting point for recalling other things that comprise the experience of being in such a place.

During much of the year this desert is — no surprise! — an oppressively hot place, in many ways not at all friendly to human life. I often photograph very early and very late in the day, spending the hot and bright midday times traveling or in a place where I can escape that heat and intense light. In the afternoon I start to think about the time when the light will soften and the air will be less hot, and late in the day I head out to make photographs, often arriving at a location while it is still uncomfortably hot. I wander out into the terrain — though often with at least some vague plan — and before long comes that beautiful time of day: the wind slows and the temperature drops into the eighties, the sun’s light is muted by the atmosphere as it nears the horizon, and soon it drops behind desert mountains. The light becomes soft and there is little sound, yet I look with increasing urgency, knowing that this combination of air and light and color will only last briefly.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Courtyard Window Reflections

April 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Curving window reflects the courtyard of the Getty Center

This curving wall of tinted windows is a favorite subject of mine at the Getty — I have photographed it several times, in fog and rain, with people in front of it, with people behind, and the structure alone. People often move across the courtyard area in front of it on their way to other places, so I can catch people in motion against this background. In fact, one other series from this visit includes a child jumping and hopping his way across. Frequently people will appear momentarily between the columns leading into the distance at the right, too.

This was a very clear day, so the light is crisp and the reflections are very visible in the curving glass. The color of the glass almost reminds me of the water of a swimming pool, and I wonder if the architects thought about this when they designed this aquarium-like rounded building with its many windows.

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Unclassified, Photographs: Urban/Street

A Moment

April 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An unplanned tableau at the Getty Center

The Getty Center, much like similar places where a lot of people collect and do interesting things, it a great place for shoot-from-the-hip photography. You keep your eyes open and keep the camera ready, and when you least expect it something worth photographing pops up, often for only a brief moment.

I don’t know if others will see it, but for me there is something intriguing and perhaps every so slightly “off” about elements of this little scene. The glowing white walls seems like something from the future. The woman against the wall seems to have one eye covered and the fellow at the far, who is only half seen, is standing and facing that bright white wall. The colors of the shirts on the two children relate in an interesting way, and one of them tilts off-kilter. There is something a bit odd about the two guys conversing at the right — something about their stances, the distance between them, and the body language.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: print

Titus Canyon

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Creosote Bush, Sand, Mountains

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Courtyard Window Reflections

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A Moment

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

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