My “imaginary landscape” photographs are based on actual photographs of landscape subjects that are modified and re-purposed in ways that hake to attempt at literal portrayal of actual landscapes. In these images I take the landscape-based materials and explore what else they can be.
Continue reading Imaginary Landscape — Blue Sand
Our main photographic targets during our late-February trip to Death Valley were Lake Manly and the impressive wildflower bloom, but we did schedule one morning visit to the sand dunes. We arrived well before sunrise when it was too dark to see our way into the dunes. Unfortunately, this was not to be a morning for grand dune photographs, since morning overcast blocked the sunlight. So instead we focused on small subjects — plants and flowers, the morning traces of the passage of wildlife, and textures of windblown sand.
I’ll break with the tradition of the these posts and write a bit about a technical photographic topic. A challenge of photographing the sand is that, unless you photograph straight down or find a suitably slanted bit of sand, depth of field can be a challenge. I sometimes employ a solution that surprisingly few photographers seem to use. I have a tilt/shift lens adapter for my landscape camera that lets me attach a medium format zoom lens and use the adapter’s movements to angle the pane of focus to match the surface of the dunes. That’s right — movements with a zoom lens!
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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.
Sights like this become familiar if you spend much time exploring Death Valley National Park — a deserted gravel track heading off into the arid landscape with hills in the distance. There are variations: a narrow track following a streamed winding between high walls, a road crossing high desert mountains, and others. This particular example is not all that isolated — though it doesn’t get a lot of visitors.
It was late in the day and we had hurried back down into the Valley in hopes of low-angle sunlight on the terrain between the road and the far hills. That did not happen, and the light was somewhat flat. But the same clouds that blocked the late-day sun also filled the sky above the desert terrain in this photograph.
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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.
Photographing desert canyon streambeds like this one in Zion National Park is rewarding in so many ways. They are little laboratories in composition, texture, alight, and color, with nearly infinite variations. Water, whether by the current flow or the aftereffects of its passage, produces all sorts of fascinating patterns. It rearranges, moves, and sometimes collects whatever is loose — in this case autumn leaves. The light can be magnificent, soft and colorful. In ideal conditions it reflects back and forth between red rock canyon walls before softly and warmly bathing the canyon depths.
Beyond all of that photographic stuff, canyons are just fascinating places to be. The walls cut off the outside world, and your horizons are measured in feet. It is usually very quiet, with the exception of a bit of breeze, the sounds of water, and sometimes a bird song. When I visit them I wander slowly, taking it all in.
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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.