Tag Archives: river

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

White Rim, Colorado River Valley

June 22, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Colorado River winds through rugged country beyond the White Rim, Canyonlands National Park

On our second visit to Canyonlands National Park (the first had been back in April of the same year, when we briefly visited the “Island in the Sky” highlands of the park) we were somewhat stymied by less than astonishing light. Overall the skies were sort of partly cloudy, but that “partly” portion seemed to line up almost perfectly with where we were, and from afternoon on a large mass of clouds sat above us and to the west. For this photograph, that might have actually been a bit of a blessing, in that trying to photograph the tremendously intricate and detailed landscape visible from the “Grand View” overlook in full sun at this time of day would have been challenging, to say the least. This landscape, lit that way, would have contained some extremely bright features along with very deep shadows in the canyons, and the result probably would not have been all that great. The clouds, however, somewhat mute the contrasty light, making the bright areas a bit less bright and allowing diffused light down into areas that would otherwise be dark. At least there was a bit of light on the buttes in the far distance at the upper edge of the frame.

This scene is one of those “iconic” views that, well, everyone photographs. Generally, I’m not that much about photographing icons. In fact, often when I go to places like this I try to not know what the iconic shots are or where to find them, preferring to instead just sort of guess, follow hunches, poke around, and see what I discover. This may not be the most effective way to find the “cool stuff” in a new location, but it does let me start to develop my own relationship with a landscape from the very beginning. So when we went into Canyonlands the first time I basically had almost no idea what I was “supposed” to see and photograph. (For example, I had no idea that iconic “Mesa Arch” is in this park – drove past the road to it and said, “Ah, that’s where Mesa Arch is!” And, no, I did not photograph it.) However, as we wandered about and looked at stuff, we somehow managed to end up at several of “those places” – especially the Green River overlook (which I now recognize as one of the iconic views of this park) and Grand View. In addition, I’ve often advised others to not eschew icons in certain situations. One, of course, is when you find yourself in front of such an icon and have never photographed it before. But another is when one visits a location for the first time and does not yet have a deeper knowledge of the place. For example, I’ll occasionally get asked by first time visitors to Yosemite or Death Valley (places where I shoot a lot) about where the “secret spots” are that not everyone shoots. I tell them that getting to know a place to such an extent that you can find, “see,” understand and photograph the non-iconic subjects is not a reasonable goal for a first visit. Often that takes many visits, perhaps in different seasons, and the time to let the place “get under your skin” to the point that you have a real feel for it.* But everyone has to start somewhere, and photographing icons is a fine place to start when you are new to a place. They are, after all, usually quite spectacular spots – as I say, “They are icons for a reason.”

*For my part, during my first year photographing in Utah I spent over 30 days there during three long visits. It wasn’t until well into the third visit that I really began to feel that I was moving past the “Oh, wow, Utah!” state and starting to really understand the place.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Box Elder with Sparse Leaves

June 5, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last autumn leaves on a box elder tree against a dark wall of Escalante Canyon, Utah

On a very cold and somewhat cloudy day in late October we explored portions of the Escalante River in Utah. This was a tough day for shooting! Not only was it cold – it was trying to snow by the end of the day – but it was also very windy, making photography of cottonwood and box elder trees and other vegetation a real challenge.

In places the river twists and turns, first going one way and permitting sun down to the river, then abruptly turning in a share s-curve and heading back the other direction. Then, as they say, “lather, rinse, repeat.” The back and forth winding course of the river continues. As we passed through one of the sharp bends, beneath very tall cliffs and in deep shade, we had to wade across the river as it flowed next to this sandstone wall. Tucked up against the wall and growing from rocky ledges were several trees, including this one that still retained just a few autumn leaves.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Snow Geese, Sunset

May 30, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Snow geese in flight at sunset, Sacramento Valley

I made this in the last moments of an early March visit to the California Central Valley to photograph migratory birds. (As I write this in late March, I’m pretty certain that this was the final “goose chase” of this winter season.) I had come across a very large flock of snow geese in a field alongside a road south of Sacramento near the end of the day – somewhat to my surprise – so I pulled over on the barely adequate shoulder of the road and photographed over a fence and some roadside weeds as the birds began to fly off in small groups.

This little episode illustrates, for me, some of the unpredictability and luck involved in photographing such birds. I don’t mean to diminish the importance of having appropriate equipment and knowing how to use it, nor of having some idea of where to find the birds. But there is a lot about this that is not in the photographer’s control. I had started the day many miles south of here before dawn at a very different wildlife site. My plans were a bit vague beyond starting there, and when the opportunities seemed a bit less than idea after the morning shoot, I decided that I would use the “blah light” midday hours to travel up the valley a good distance to another area where I had not photographed since last season. (This added bit of driving also allowed me to investigate a few highways and side roads that I had been wanting to check out.) After a long drive of nearly two hours I arrived at this location in the Sacramento area and found… not at all what I had hoped for. I was hoping for more large flocks of birds, preferably geese and/or cranes, but at the first place I stopped it seemed that formerly flooded fields had now been drained and tilled. I moved to another area, but still couldn’t see what I had in mind to shoot. I drove around a bit trying to get the lay of the land and discover if perhaps the birds were somewhere other than where I expected to find them, but aside from a few small groups I didn’t find much. I took a nap. I started the usual contemplation about how not every shoot is successful and reminded myself that it was a good day even if nothing turned up here. As sunset approached I decided to make one last loop around the area, stopping to briefly photograph a few Canadian geese. As I watched the, I caught a glimpse of the tell-tale white birds off to the north and since I wasn’t finding anything all the compelling where I was I drove off in that direction. I soon was surprised to find a field filled with many thousands of geese – and a bit more surprised to find that they (or at least many of them) were snow geese rather than the Ross’s geese I often photograph. I stood along the road, separated from them by a low fence and tall weeds and watched. Before long small groups began to take of and fly low angle paths across the field toward the setting sun. The light was beautiful but often they were in front of farmland buildings, trees, and wires. I kept shooting and occasionally a group would rise high enough and quickly enough to appear against early evening sky. One of the important factors, or at least it seems to me, is to capture the group when the birds are in a pleasing and interesting configuration. Too often they overlap, or may not have wings raised or lowered, or there distances may vary enough to create focus problems – so it is no surprise that a good percentage of the shots aren’t keepers. (I have a sense of when this is more likely to work, but only a sense.) But this group managed to cooperate nicely, not only flying against background of clear sky, heading into the golden hour sunset light, but also managing to maintain enough separation that none of them overlap at all.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Tree, Sandstone Canyon Walls

May 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A cottonwood tree set against the afternoon colors of shaded sandstone walls of Zion Canyon, Utah

I photographed this tree, still too soon to have fall colors, in front of the huge sandstone cliffs above the Temple of Sinawava feature at the upper end of Zion Canyon in Zion National Park. These trees grow here along the banks of the Virgin River, which makes some rather abrupt twists and turns in this portion of the canyon and flows right up against the canyon walls.

I should probably write something about the colors in this photograph. I actually held this one back for some time on account of the colors – which could easily be seen to be due to overly enthusiastic post-processing on my part. That’s not the case, but there have been a few other photographs that I have made that have evoked such responses, and sometimes I’d rather not have to explain. However, in this case I will explain! :-) The entire scene is in shadow, as the very tall cliffs are along the west rim of the canyon and completely block sun from this spot for a good portion of the day. The cliff face is extensively covered with a sort of “varnish” that is commonly seen on such walls, though it is much more extensive than usual here. This material normally is quite dark, black even, and is more reflective than natural sandstone. When it is in the shade it tends to reflect the blue tones of the sky – and that is where the intense coloration of this cliff comes from.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: river

White Rim, Colorado River Valley

Box Elder with Sparse Leaves

Snow Geese, Sunset

Cottonwood Tree, Sandstone Canyon Walls

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