Tag Archives: scenic

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Rhyolite, Amargosa Valley, Telescope Peak

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Rhyolite, Amargosa Valley, Telescope Peak
“Rhyolite, Amargosa Valley, Telescope Peak” — Telescope Peak, the Amargosa Mountains, and the Amargosa Valley seen beyond the ghost town of Rhyolite Nevada

I first visited the fabled ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada perhaps a decade ago. I lies outside of Death Valley National Park, not too far from Beatty, Nevada. The place has existed in a state of mostly natural decay in the decades since it was abandoned. The story is that it was once a very successful and busy mining town, but as happens to virtually all such places, the mines played out and the town died. Not a lot is left at this point, though there are a few very interesting structures. Their size gives evidence of what the town must have been: a railroad station, a crumbling bank building, the remains of a large schoolhouse, and more.

When I first visited Rhyolite the place was pretty much what it was, and you could go just about anywhere you wanted to go. Within a few years fencing began to appear around some of the more dangerous structures—tall ruins of stone walls that are eventually going to fall. As time passed more and more fences were erected, and today many of the old buildings are off-limits. In a way this disappoints me, but given the increasing number of visitors and the increasingly fragile state of the town and its structures, I’m will to accept these limitations as a way to slow the eventual decay of the place. I’ve photographed at various times of day and in a range of conditions, but I still like dawn the best here. When the conditions are right, the sun comes up over a low ridge to the east and its light strikes the old bank building and other structures in the town just after it reaches the Amargosa Range and the summit of distant Telescope Peak, the highest point in Death Valley National Park.

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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.

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

Clearing Storm, Panamint Range

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Clearing Storm, Panamint Range
Clearing Storm, Panamint Range

Clearing Storm, Panamint Range. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A clearing snow storm in the Panamint Mountains above Wildrose Canyon, Death Valley National Park

I seem to have a knack for encountering “interesting” weather in Death Valley. The first time I visited the park, on an early April trip back in the late 1990s, I encountered light snow at Scotty’s Castle, an extremely cold wind storm that forced a retreat from the back-country near Teakettle Junction, and a big dust storm at Stovepipe Wells. Since then I’ve experienced a number of dust storms, heavy rain, sub-freezing temperatures, more snow, and plenty of wind. If you are hoping to visit the park for its more typical hot weather, you might want to avoid times when I’m there! Of course, I often visit around the beginning of April, and this seems to be a time of wildly varied conditions in this park—the time of wind storms, and a season when you might see the last Pacific winter storms or the first really warm weather.

On this year’s early April visit things leaned more in the direction of winter-like conditions. As a series of welcome Pacific storms came through there were plenty of clouds, cooler temperatures, strong winds, and some precipitation. The plan on this morning was to start at a very high overlook in the Panamint Range, from which expansive morning vistas are often possible. We were there before sunrise… but it was cloudy and becoming cloudier. There was enough light for some photography, but we also became aware that snow was starting to fall on some of the higher peaks. After an hour or so at this location we retreated to a high, broad, sage-filled valley and continued to watch the clouds close in and the snow spread along other nearby ridges. Not wanting to miss the unusual conditions we headed up into Wildrose Canyon, getting as far as the charcoal kilns before the falling snow convinced me that we shouldn’t go any further. We worked our way back down the canyon where the storm began to temporarily clear from the ridge of the Panamint Mountains.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Commentary, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Dawn, San Francisco Bay

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Dawn, San Francisco Bay
Dawn, San Francisco Bay

Dawn, San Franicsco Bay. San Francisco, California. March 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light, fog, and high clouds over the northern shoreline of San Francisco Bay

This early morning late-winter view of San Francisco Bay looks back to the east from the Marin Headlands. The morning had started with somewhat murky conditions—high clouds above, atmospheric haze over the bay, and for along the San Francisco waterfront and across the bay toward Oakland. I was hoping for color, but the moment of sunrise was a bit disappointing in that regard. The probably was some color, but it was muted by the high clouds and haze and it happened mostly behind that fog bank floating above the East Bay.

But soon the high clouds began to pick up some color, and this pinkish glow reflected down towards the water, the fog, and the haze, gently coloring the scene. I thought that I might break up the many horizontal layers of light and color by including a it of the foreground land, and I experimented with several compositions: one that centered Angel Island in the scene, one that caught a bit of the edge of Angel Island and a bit of the Tiburon shoreline, and then this one which just included a bit of the north bay shoreline instead. Having watched so many sunrises, I still am struck by how this visual beauty arrives without a sound.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: San Francisco

North Tower, Dawn Fog

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North Tower, Dawn Fog
North Tower, Dawn Fog

North Tower, Dawn Fog. San Francisco, California. March 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

There are many associations with this location and scenes like this, at least for me. I am fascinated by the shapes, colors, and textures of this bridge, a structure that we take for granted here in the Bay Area. The location from which I photographed is also familiar and easily taken for granted, yet it is a spectacular place, sitting high above the bridge, the Golden Gate itself, the Pacific Ocean, and the San Francisco Bay spreading inland to the west. At this early morning hour, while the sound of traffic approaching the bridge is faintly audible far below, it is otherwise nearly silent. It is also typically cool and damp, most often with at least some fog around—occasionally so much that the view is completely blocked. The City is visible across the Bay, seeming like it is coming back to life at this early hour, with cars heading in to work and lights from the fading night still turned on.

The dawn light on this morning was, as usual, not exacty like any previous morning that I’ve seen here. When I left home well before dawn I thought that it might be clear over the entrance to the Bay, but as I got closer I encountered fog on the San Francisco side. But as I crossed the bridge, and a bit to my surprise, it was clear over the water—the fog seemed to be mostly over the south shore. There were high, thin clouds above the fog and the light haze. At first it looked like all of this cloudiness would kill any morning color, and that impression was strengthened as the sun came up behind the clouds to the east with only the subtlest color. But a bit later, some minutes after actual dawn, the rising sun’s colorful light began to clear that eastern fog and slant across the top of the thinning fog bank to my south.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.