Evening light through diffused clouds illuminates the stratified and eroded formations of Cedar Breaks, Utah
Since I’ve posted on this scene previously – along with a landscape mode presentation of a similar scene – I’ll keep this one short. This photograph was made in the slightly post-sunset light on an evening when the light was softened by clouds. A smattering of trees grows in the few areas among the cliffs and hoodoos where there is apparently enough of the right kind of soil – most of this terrain is devoid of large plants.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
Post-sunset dusk light on the strata and towers of Cedar Breaks, Utah
This view of the red rock formations at Cedar Breaks National Monument is from a different portion of the area than shown in the photograph I posted previously, and was made on a different day. Earlier I had photographed aspen color far below in an area of the Dixie National Forest, and when I finished there it seemed like there might be just enough time to swing by this overlook during the very last light of the day. One thing led to another – primarily photographic distractions, if I recall correctly – and when we arrived it was literally the last sunlight, and it was going fast.
By the time I got my gear together and walked out to the edge of the drop-off, the direct sun was pretty much gone, as a consequence of the late hour and of the clouds that were in the west. But sometimes the most beautiful light comes after the sun drops below the horizon, when features are lit by the soft yet colorful western sky and shadows are filled in by this more diffused light. Fortunately it wasn’t too windy – unlike the previous day when the winds were howling – so I was able to continue shooting into this evening light a bit before packing up and heading back to Brian Head.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
A Utah juniper growing on red rock with the La Sal Mountains in the distance, Grand View overlook, Canyonlands National Park.
We had a great visit to Canyonlands National Park, though the lighting was challenging, to say the least. Our visit took us up to the “island in the sky” highlands and included a stop at the Dead Horse Point State Park. Initially, the light challenges were simply from the midday light and the fact that there was a certain amount of haze in the air. The haze can be a nice effect in some cases, but it can also obscure some of the longer views such as those from this high plateau. As the day wore on, clouds began to collect to the west and, as luck would have it, the thickest portion of the clouds were almost directly west of us. Ultimately, this interfered with my chances for dusk shooting, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.
Before heading to the golden hour light location that I had selected, we drove down to the “Grand View” overlook – appropriately named, as anyone who has been there can confirm. Here the high plateau ends suddenly with a steep thousand foot drop off to the next lower level of strata and the Green River joins the Colorado in the vast and rugged terrain to the south. I did eventually make some photographs of that subject – it is sort of obligatory! However, as I walked to the overlook I saw to my left this chunk of cliff-edge sandstone with its resident juniper and remembered looking at it the last time I was there. The soft light produced by the overcast was a Good Thing here, as full sun would have produced a very harsh effect on the rocks. Beyond lies the giant valley of the Colorado River and even further out are the high and distant peaks of the La Sal mountains.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
Brush including some autumn foliage stands against a bright red sandstone cliff, Capitol Reef National Park
This area was yet another surprise – though perhaps only because I’m a California guy still very much in the early stages of discovering the landscape of Utah. We had driven a long route down a good part of the length of Capitol Reef National Park, climbed over the higher portion of the north-south ridge, and were heading back to our lodgings some distance away. As we drove across this new (to us!) landscape we descended into a long, narrow canyon that had some of the most beautiful red rock walls I had yet seen.
Such canyons provide a wealth of photographic opportunities and require some slightly different thinking about timing and about light. In so many situations, we look for the “good light” at the edges of the day, in the very early morning and then again in the evening. However, in these canyons that is not the only good time to search of the light. At times that are later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon, the higher sun strikes the upper walls of such canyons and reflects beautiful light down into the canyon bottoms, like that may be colored by the rocks from which it reflects. In this spot it was not very bright, but the light was beautiful! Because we were “on our way” from one place to another we almost didn’t stop, if you can believe that!
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
