Tag Archives: sand

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

Dunes, Soft Light

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Dunes, Soft Light
Details of sand dunes in soft evening light, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Dunes, Soft Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Details of sand dunes in soft evening light, Death Valley Naitonal Park.

Sand dunes are fascinating subjects, both for their appearance as part of the larger landscape and because they contain infinite varieties of smaller subjects, textures, colors, and variations in light. I made a wild guess recently that I’ve probably been to Death Valley perhaps twenty-five times. You’d think that I might start to tire of the dunes or run out of things to photograph there… but there’s no sign of this happening.

We went to these dunes late in the day and had them entirely to ourselves. The light was challenging, as clouds were building to the west. As the clouds moved the light increased and decreased, but overall it remained quite soft. But this just provided another variation on how we can photograph this subject, and the soft light reveals some subtle details that can get lost in brighter conditions. I made some post-processing choices here that highlight the variations in light and the soft forms of the dunes.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Sea of Dunes

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Sea of Dunes
Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sea of Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Undulating patterns of overlapping sand dunes extending into the distance.

Sand dunes occupy a tiny fraction of Death Valley National Park but are one of the most common photographic subjects. They loom large in our sense of the place, perhaps because sand dunes evoke of a sort of alien landscape. But they also present a visual blank slate that is open to diverse interpretations. We can approach them as “grand landscapes” or as intimate landscapes, as abstractions of shape and color, as backdrops for photographs of people and wildlife, and more. I think I began by seeing them as grand landscapes but now find it more interesting to seek out little fragments of form and light.

Perhaps because it makes everyone a bit uneasy we don’t speak a lot about the extent to which photographers treat dunes as a photographic starting point for visual experimentation. By this I mean to acknowledge that most interesting, compelling photographs of sand dunes involve a lot of “interpretation,” much of it done via post-processing techniques. To be sure, I regard this as conceptually legitimate and even necessary, and I embrace it in my own photography— I egard post-processing to be as integral to photograph-making as setting up the camera and clicking the shutter.

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, Photographs: Southern California

Sand Dunes, Soft Light

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Sand Dunes, Soft Light
Soft morning light on overlapping sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Sand Dunes, Soft Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Soft morning light on overlapping sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

We often hear that photography is all about light, and nowhere is this more true than when photographing sand dunes. In the middle of the day the dunes can be challenging to photograph, with harsh light and little definition of their forms. But all sorts of magic can happen when the angle of the light is lower and the dunes act as a canvas to capture and reflect the light and its color, intensity, softness, and more. The colors can vary through almost every shade from blue through red, and the light may be soft and gentle or stark enough to turn shadows almost black. And at times the light passes through all of these stages and more in moments.

I’ve long felt that dune photography gives the photographer more creative and interpretive freedom than many other subjects. Because the subject is so basic, it is possible to take liberties with the light — its intensity and color — and render photographs of dunes in a variety of subjectively true ways. The light was extremely soft when I made this exposure, so I used to tools of the post-production stage to bring out the colors and forms of the subject.

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.

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

Dune Study, Evening

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Dune Study, Evening
An interpretation of soft dune forms and colors in evening light, Death Valley National Park.

Dune Study, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

An interpretation of soft dune forms and colors in evening light, Death Valley National Park.

When photographing sand dunes I spend a lot of time looking for just the right combination of shading, texture, line, curve, and color. But in the end, it mostly comes down to the light — the light that colors the sand, creates the shading, and illuminates those lines and curves. It seems like every photograph in the sand dunes is an ephemeral, one-time thing, and the particular combinations of conditions can never be precisely replicated. Unlike subjects where the primary elements of the scene don’t change much, each visit to the dunes takes me to different places and photographs.

On a late-March trip to Death Valley National Park, I revisited a location that I had photographed with great success a couple of months ago. This time Patty accompanied me, and I wanted her to experience the light that I had worked with on the earlier visit. That did not happen. Two months ago the evening sky was clear, and warm-colored sunset light illuminated the western-facing dunes. This time the sky was filled with clouds and the light was soft and the colors far less intense, producing an entirely different and subtle experience.

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.