Tag Archives: scenic

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

Dusk Clouds, Badwater Basin Panorama

April 24, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

Colorful dusk clouds against darkening sky above the salt flats of Badwater Basin and the distant ridges of the Amargosa and Panamint mountain ranges.

This was one of the final photographs I made in fading light on this evening. (I made another series a few minutes later when the sky and clouds and salt flats were all various stages of blue – I may ultimately post that image here as well.) The very last light was catching the clouds above Badwater and the central portions of Death Valley, and the color was already fading quickly in the darker area to the east over the Amargosa Range.

As I have mentioned before, the very wide dynamic range between the shaded surface of the salt flats and the bright bit of sunlit cloud and sky at the far left necessitated the use of two exposures which were then combined in post. (Even after this light finally faded I was not yet finished for the day. An hour or so later I was doing night photography under the light of the rising full moon at Zabriskie Point.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 17mm
ISO 100, f/16, composite of two exposures in the 1/2 to 1/4 second range.

keywords: badwater, basin, salt, flat, polygon, pattern, white, texture, panorama, evening, sunset, twilight, dusk, dark, sky, color, orange, pink, blue, amargosa, panamint, mountain, range, ridge, horizon, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, travel, scenic, nature, stock

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

Detail, Zabriskie Point Formations

April 23, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Detail photograph of patterns of barren hills and gullies at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

From my series of detail photographs of smaller elements of the landscape at Zabriskie, and another one shot during atypical times of day – in this case in very bright afternoon sunshine. Because of these lighting conditions – color, intensity, and angle, the quality of the image is less “dreamy” than the typical early morning soft-light photographs of this area. Here you see more clearly the rough texture of the material making up the folds and gullies of these interesting hills that drop into Gower Gulch.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 330mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/50 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, detail, hills, gullies, barren, dry, earth, dirt, afternoon, light, diagonal, forms, abstract, geology, nature, landscape, patterns, death valley, national park, scenic, travel, california, usa, north america, stock, eroded

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods

April 22, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lush growth of late winter ferns in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is a color version of the previously-posted photograph, cropped slightly differently. Among many specimens that mixed new lush green growth with older dead plants from the previous season, this sample was almost entirely green – the leaves were densely packed, overlapping and intertwined.

Sometimes I like a particular image in both monochrome and color versions, and this is one of those cases. The black and white version posted yesterday abstracts the shapes and textures of the leaves, while the color version more strongly suggests the wet and lush undergrowth of this redwood forest.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, 4 seconds

keywords: lush, growth, fern, leaf, frond, branch, green, overlap, dense, winter, late, redwood, forest, coast, grove, foliage, flora, nature, scenic, travel, muir, woods, national, monument, golden gate, recreation, area, pattern, san francisco, california, usa, north america, marin, county, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Late Winter Ferns, Muir Woods (Black and White)

April 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Black and white photograph of lush leaves of late winter ferns in the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument, California.

On this late-winter visit to Muir Woods National Monument – a place I photograph often – I noticed the combination of lush growth for recent heavy rains and somewhat warmer temperatures indicating the approach of spring. Many of the forest floor plants were coming back to life and there was lots of greenery everywhere. (There were also plenty of wildflowers, though it seems that I missed the trillium bloom this season.)

Ferns grow throughout the groves in the bottom of the Redwood Creek canyon and there is a mixture of lush green ferns and the older dead growth underneath. One of my objectives was to shoot the older brown and gray ferns, but I couldn’t resist this pattern of the interlocking and overlapping leaves of these very green ferns – not that you can tell in this black and white rendition of the subject! (There is a color version of this photograph coming soon.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 200mm
ISO 200, f/16, 4 seconds

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.