Tag Archives: salt

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Evening Clouds Above the Panamint Range

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Evening Clouds Above the Panamint Range
Colorful evening clouds above the Panamint Range and Death Valley.

Evening Clouds Above the Panamint Range. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Colorful evening clouds above the Panamint Range and Death Valley.

In previous posts about this Death Valley trip I mentioned that storm-related closures forced me to modify my plans when I arrived in the park. I ended up visiting a few out-of-the way locations on foot, areas not far from central attractions of the park, but perhaps less visited. (In one case, barely visited at all from what I could tell.) But I also made a last-minute decision to drive up to Dantes View one evening, and the sky cooperated.

Quite often the Death Valley sky is… just plain blue. So I was surprised and pleased to spot this interesting cloud formation building over the Panamint Range. Since this is more traditionally a morning photography location, I was pretty happy to see the clouds, since otherwise much of the landscape is in rather deep shadows in the evening. The view is familiar, but remains astonishing — from this location we look down more than 5000′ to the otherworldly features of Death Valley, up to the 11,000’+ Telescope Peak topping the Panamints, and in the far distance a few snow-covered Sierra peaks are sometimes visible.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Playa Patterns

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Playa Patterns
Patters of earth, water flow, and salt deposits in Badwater Basin, Death Valley.

Playa Patterns. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Patterns of earth, water flow, and salt deposits in Badwater Basin, Death Valley.

In a roundabout way, this photograph is the result of last-minute changes to my plans during my recent Death Valley visit, changes necessitated by the closure of other places I intended to visit there. I took advantage of this situation by more carefully exploring some popular (and some less popular) locations in my central portions of the park. And that led to me being being at Dantes View on a rather cold evening. This is a location with some rather remarkable views, stretching from distant Sierra peaks to mountains near Las Vegas.

I arrived while there was still direct light on the salt flats and other features in Death Valley, and then I continued to photograph right on through sunset until early dusk. I made this photograph was the sun-shadow line was just passing over this area of salt deposits in, more or less, Badwater Basin. From Dantes View, more than 5000′ above Death Valley, these features look quite different than what we see when we are among them, and I used a long lens to isolate interesting sections of this otherworldly landscape.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Winter Dawn, Panamint Mountains

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Winter Dawn, Panamint Mountains
In dawn light, the Panamint Mountains rise from Death Valley to snow-covered Telescope Piak.

Winter Dawn, Panamint Mountains. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

In dawn light, the Panamint Mountains rise from Death Valley to snow-covered Telescope Piak.

At the current time many road (and the locations they access) in Death Valley National Park are closed as a result of earlier flooding and washouts. Before I went there this past week I was aware of some closures, but when I arrived I discovered that some of my planned destinations were unavailable. I changed plans, improvised, and still found plenty to see and do in the park, and my list of planned locations remains for my next visit.

If plans had not changed, I would not likely have come back with this photograph. I often make relatively last-minute decisions about where to photograph based on light and sky conditions, and when I noticed that the air was clearer than usual — important given the vast distances in this park — I headed to a location with a view of the first morning light on the Panamint Mountains and their snow-capped summit of Telescope Peak. To give some idea of the distances, the highest peak is perhaps roughly twenty-five miles from my camera position.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Morning, Beneath Desert Mountains

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Morning, Beneath Desert Mountains
Morning light comes to badland terrains beneath tall desert mountains.

Morning, Beneath Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2022.G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light comes to badlands terrain beneath tall desert mountains.

On the final morning of my late-January visit to Death Valley National Park I decided to visit a location that I rarely photograph. I suppose there were two reasons for my choice. It wasn’t that far from where I was camped, and I wanted to get back to camp by mid-morning to take things down in preparation for my departure. In addition, it is a location that, frankly, hasn’t attracted me all that much for photography. I had been there before several times and came away with little to show for it. (Despite this, one client did purchase a number of prints from this location some years ago.)

An offhand comment by a friend had suggested a different way to look that the place, and as I looked at it from a distance earlier in the week I saw some things that caught my attention. So I headed out there before dawn on this final morning and followed a trail out to the edge of some interesting badlands country. As I worked that subject the light was working its way down the face of the bare desert mountains to the northwest, so I turned my camera that direction as the play of light and shadow evolved.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.