Photographing in the area around Salt Creek in Death Valley has long been a challenge. The place is intriguing, with its surprising creek flowing on the valley floor and its population of endangered pupfish. But visually it has generally not spoken to me. The light can also be challenging, especially with a large mountain range blocking late-day light. But I think there are possibilities in the area and I continue to visit from time to time.
Continue reading From Valley to Mountains
This is not the first time that I have photographed this same subject, more or less, in evening light. Corkscrew Peak stands out in this scene of rugged, furrowed desert mountains. Because the location is on the eastern side of Death Valley, late light angles across the landscape just before the sun drops behinds mountains far to the west, and this light emphasizes the textures of the eroded landscape.
Continue reading Corkscrew Peak and Desert Hills
I have been sharing a lot of photographs from this year’s spectacular wildflower bloom in Death Valley National Park — and I’m not quite done yet! In dry years one may have to go off searching (sometimes in vain) for landscape-carpeting flowers like these. But this year, after a previous season of good rainfall the flowers were easy to find.
How easy? I made this photograph just a few minutes from the busy Furnace Creek area. Here the desert gold flowers spilled across a broad wash, past small hills, and on into the more distant wide valley. Beyond are the dark hills at the north end of the Black Mountains.
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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
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.
There are a few unusual things in this Death Valley photograph featuring Telescope Peak. Superficially, snow at Death Valley might seem unusual, but while it is at lower elevations that usual, these peaks are often snow-capped in winter. More unusual is the band of water at the bottom of the frame — that’s Lake Manly, which may temporarily form in Badwater Basin during wet years. The photograph includes the lowest elevation in the park (Badwater Basin) and its highest (Telescope Peak.)
What lies between those extremes is remarkable, too. That is a rise of over 11, 300′ from below-sea-level Badwater Basin to the summit of the peak. Between those two is some extremely rugged terrain that ranges from low desert to the alpine zone, with everything in between.
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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
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.