Tag Archives: sand

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

Dune and Sky

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Dune and Sky
Thin clouds pass above sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dune and Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin clouds pass above sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

These particular sand dunes and I have a kind of fraught relationship. The first time I visited this location was in the middle of winter some years ago. There was one other party there when I arrived, and they soon departed, leaving me to remain overnight in this vast landscape all alone. It was cold, as the higher elevations of the desert can sometimes be. And I had a difficult time finding photographic compositions that pleased me. Somehow I just found it more difficult to photograph this location than some of the others I knew better.

I was back again this spring. I was most certainly not alone this time! I think that the pandemic had enhanced the appeal of remote camping, and there were more than a dozen other parties, some quite large, on the night I was there. Late on the first day it seemed like time to make some photographs, so I loaded up and started walking. However, the wind had other ideas, and the gale was so strong that I wasn’t certain that I’d be able to photograph at all. I finally decided that if I used a relatively wide-angle lens, rather than the long focal lengths I wanted to use, that I might be able to wait for slight decrease in the wind velocity and get things stable enough to make a photograph. In the end, this particular subject and composition was the only one that I was able to complete successfully before the wind drove me back to camp.

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

Creosote and Dunes in Morning Light

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Creosote and Dunes in Morning Light
Shadows and early morning light on creosote plants and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Creosote and Dunes in Morning Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows and early morning light on creosote plants and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Yes, I know. I keep suggesting that I’m done with the new photographs from this year’s early-April visit to Death Valley. And then I decide to look at them again before moving on. And I find another that I want to work up. And then another. I really do think I may be done with them. For now. Maybe. But maybe not…

These creosote plants are among the Death Valley plants that seem to thrive, or at least survive, in the least likely places. Here they grow on the sand dunes and are among the largest plants you’ll find here. As they battle this harsh environment of heat, intense light, strong winds, and blowing sand they not only manage to live here but they even affect this landscape. Clumps of creosote like this one obstruct the blowing sand enough to begin a process of building small mounds at their base, and this seems to allow additional shoots of the plant to fill in until some examples are quite large.

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

Alkali Flats and Dunes, Morning

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Alkali Flats and Dunes, Morning
A solitary creosote bush on sand dunes above remnants of old alkali flats, Death Valley National Park.

Alkali Flats and Dunes, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary creosote bush on sand dunes above remnants of old alkali flats, Death Valley National Park.

Perhaps this scene looks a bit familiar? It is the same subject as in another black and white photograph that I shared recently, though this time composed a bit differently to fit the portrait orientation and include the curving alkali flats in the foreground. I often photograph such a subject in more than one way. At a minimum I’ll try to find a portrait and a landscape mode version of the scene if possible. In the landscape version of this scene I omitted most of the lighter foreground material, but by using portrait mode here I was able to use the leading curve in the foreground.

These old alkali formations among the dunes fascinate me. So far I have not found too much information about them, though it seems that they are layers of material that must have been created from silt that was once liquid and which dried and cracked. In places the formations are thick and quite solid, but in others they are incredibly thin and fragile. (I may walk on the thicker formations occasionally, but I always try to detour around the thinner ones so as to avoid damaging them.) Unlike other playa surfaces, these are often also shaped by the forces of wind-blown sand.

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

Morning Haze, Dunes and Mountains

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Morning Haze, Dunes and Mountains
A long desert vista, from creoste growing in the dunes to distant mountains shrouded byh morning haze.

Morning Haze, Dunes and Mountains. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A long desert vista, from creoste growing in the dunes to distant mountains shrouded byh morning haze.

There are still a few more photographs in the series from this year’s foray to Death Valley National Park, though I suspect that they will wind down soon as I move to other subjects. It is hard to believe that I was there only a bit more than a month ago — it seems like much longer. When I was there around the beginning of April it was still only moderately (by DEVA standards!) warm, with temperatures only touching the low nineties. I’m sure it is hotter now, and it will remain so until late in the year. That’s my way of saying that I won’t be headed back there until many months from now!

This photograph comes from my one morning foray into the well-known dunes not far from Stovepipe Wells. As I have previously mentioned, I often head to somewhat less “busy” areas of these dunes — partly to avoid running into other visitors, but also to find views that are not the familiar, iconic ones. This view looks across a long view from the close creosote to the distant haze-obscured desert mountains that rim the valley.

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.