Tag Archives: sandstone

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Trees on Sandstone Cliff

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Trees on Sandstone Cliff
A row of coniferous trees ascends a steep gully on a sandstone cliff face.

Trees on Sandstone Cliff. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A row of coniferous trees ascends a steep gully on a sandstone cliff face.

There is something compelling about individual or small groups of trees growing in unlikely places. It is hard to precisely describe why this is, but my friend Charles Cramer has referred to photographs of them as “brave little tree” images. (I don’t know if Charlie coined the term, but he’s the first person I heard use it.) Perhaps there is something metaphorical about these trees stand in such places, where they are tall and straight like these examples or twisted and stunted by their stark environment. Whatever the reason, I know I’m not the only person attracted to them.

This group of conifers grows high up on a sandstone cliff in Zion National Park, improbably forming a very tine forest in a very difficult place. Such trees, viewed up close, often seem to thrive on almost nothing at all, putting roots down in little more than cracks in the rock. This group rises from a cluster of smaller shrubs and trees to a few larger trees in the widest part of the ledge, and then the trees continue upwards, diminishing in size.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Trees on Red Rock Cliff

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Trees on Red Rock Cliff
A vertical forest of trees ascends the face of red rock cliffs, Zion National Park.

Trees on Red Rock Cliff. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vertical forest of trees ascends the face of red rock cliffs, Zion National Park.

There are scenes like this one in may locations in the Southwest — and anywhere there are steep rock cliffs, for that matter. (I photograph similar subjects in the Sierra Nevada.) I found this little “forest” working its way up a crack system high on the walls of Zion Canyon. Here and in similar places, I’m always amazed by the minimal requirements for supporting such big trees. They often are growing in little more than cracks in the rock, and to some extent the trees seem to almost create their own meager soil as their leaves and needles fall and degrade.

Not only are the trees remarkable for growing in such a difficult situation, but they provide a fascinating color contrast with the red sandstone walls in the Southwest. In canyons like this one, I usually prefer to photograph them during main daylight hours, while the trees themselves are in shadow but partially illuminated by light reflected from other canyon walls.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone Columns

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Sandstone Columns
Columns on eroded sandstone, Zion National Park.

Sandstone Columns. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Columns on eroded sandstone, Zion National Park.

While the entirely of the Utah landscape (and similar landscapes in the American Southwest) is compelling, for me the main defining feature always seems to be the red sandstone formations. Yes, I know there are other geological wonders, but in so many cases I see those relative to the massive layers of sandstone. Those lovely white strata? Much more powerful juxtaposed with the red sandstone? The beautiful forests? That red is a powerful complement to their color. And on it goes.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that my photographs of the regions from time to time distill down to photographs of that rock itself. It is a remarkable material. Sometimes it is fractured and broken, but it can also appear to be as smooth and unbroken as butter. We say it is “red,” but the truth is much more complicated, and the light affects our perception of its color a great deal. I photographed this small section of a Zion Canyon wall from below using a long focal length that allowed me to constrain the view to a few columns in the diffused and reflected light.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Streamside Trees, Red Rock Cliff

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Streamside Trees, Red Rock Cliff
Narrowleaf cottonwood trees with a few autumn leaves beneath sandstone cliff along the Virgin River, Zion National Park.

Streamside Trees, Red Rock Cliff. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Narrowleaf cottonwood trees with a few autumn leaves beneath sandstone cliff along the Virgin River, Zion National Park.

The trees along the Virgin River in Zion National Park are a big attraction for me, especially as the autumn color transition begins. There is quite a variety of these trees, ranging from conifers to deciduous trees, from small to large, in locations ranging from open flats to ledges far up on the red rock cliffs and on the more open highlands far above. Landscape photographer friends like to joke that we just make pictures of “rocks, water, and trees” — and all of those play a big part in this landscape.

This little mini-grove lies a bit off to the side from a popular and busy Zion Canyon trail. Working in such a canyon, with its shade and diffused, soft light, is very appealing to me, and the contrasts between green foliage and red rock make it even better. These trees grow in one of the many bends in the canyon as it winds back and forth, and the sandstone cliffs form a sort of wide alcove here. The Virgin River — at a fairly low rate of flow — runs past in the foreground.

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.