Tag Archives: scenic

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

Sandstone Tower, Fruita District

February 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sandstone tower stands above the Fruita District orchards in early evening light, Capitol Reef National Park

These sandstone plateaus and mesas seem characteristic of this front-country area of Capitol Reef National Park, and they are perhaps the most striking visual icon of your approach to the park from the town of Torrey, Utah, to the west. The Fruita District is the most accessible area of the park, being right alongside the main east-west highway that passes through the park. It features some picturesque sites and sights that are enough to make almost anyone pull over and look, including the old orchards that apparently gave the area its name and the accessible petroglyphs on low cliffs that run along the road. (Although this portion of the park is quite accessible once you are out here and driving across Utah, most of the park is anything but easily accessible, and getting to other places within its boundaries can involve some very long drives on some fairly bad roads, plus some hiking. I’m fine with that! ;-)

I made this photograph late in the day, after we had done a bit of exploring along the main tourist route into the park, the largely paved road towards Capitol Gorge and other nearby points. Late in the day I happened to spot this little conjunction of creek and fall-color tree and green grass and red rock cliffs as we were about to leave the park.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park

February 20, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ridges and mesas recede into the distance beyond Fiery Furnace formations, Arches National Park.

These formations are part of a much larger set of similar structures along the road toward the Devil’s Garden area of Arches National Park. They overlook a large section of the park and beyond. The distant plateau in the sunlight is along the Colorado River, and though they are not visible in this photograph the La Sal Mountains tower even further off. Between there is a lot of rough country full of valleys and ridges and other formations.

The Fiery Furnace area contains sandstone with layers of contrasting color, as see here. This material has been eroded it all sorts of fantastical ways. On this particular day, the light conditions were both interesting and challenging. There were quite a few high clouds and a good portion of the time the sun was blocked by them and the light was somewhat dismal. But as the clouds moved along, the sun light occasionally broke through gaps and cast beams of light that traversed the landscape. When we first stopped here and saw the overcast conditions I almost decided to just move on. But I saw a few hints of this changeable light and decided to try patience first! It took a while, but eventually some of the clear areas in the overcast lined up with our position and we had moments of nice light.

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

Dawn Sky, Panamint Range

February 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

First dawn light on clouds above Death Valley, as seen from high in the Panamint Range

I recently “discovered” (or perhaps “remembered?”) this photograph that I made nearly a year earlier during an early January 2012 trip to do winter photography in Death Valley National Park. Winter is a wonderful time in Death Valley, though the season can present its own challenges – not the same as summer, but challenges nonetheless. The challenges include, believe it or not, the possibility of some very, very cold weather, especially in some of the higher outlying areas of the park an up in the mountains, such as here in the Panamint Range. But there are special rewards, too, including the possibility of snow among the peaks and the more interesting skies that can come with the passage of winter low pressure systems that originate in the Pacific Ocean.

On this morning I had gotten out of my sleeping bag well before dawn so that I would have time to drive to this overlook high in the Panamints before sun rise. It was still dark as I drove the last section of the gravel road approach, and its wasn’t until after I arrived that there was enough light to see that this might turn out to be a spectacular sunrise. (When you get up in darkness and drive many miles, you have to take it on faith that something special might occur, and accept the possibility that it might not.) My original subject ideas for this location were not so much about sky as about deep valleys and receding ridges, but when the first sun hit these high clouds I was willing to angle the tripod up a bit to photograph them! This light on the clouds only lasted a few minutes, and after that I turned my attention back to the landscape below.

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

Red Rock at Dusk

February 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Red rock sandstone cliffs at dusk in the Fruita area of Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

The farther mesa or tableland is a prominent feature of the Fruita District area of Capitol Reef National Park as seen when approaching from the west – though here it is photographed from a slightly different point of view that is more to the south. There is a prominent feature – not seen in this photograph – along the upper rim of these cliffs that is known as “The Organ,” and which is pointed out in guides and maps to the area. However, I’m surprise that the spectacular cliff and mesa itself seems to either not have a name or else have a name that is not widely known. I asked about this when I was there, and several people who should know did not know of a name for it, and one suggested a name that comes from another feature that is more general.

Nonetheless, these cliffs certainly impress me, named or not! The photograph was made rather late in the day, as the sun was just about to drop above the edge of the higher country to the left/west of here. Thin clouds somewhat diffused and softened the evening light, but not so much as to remove the warm coloration of the light. Among the strata visible here is one along the low ridge at front right that contains starkly differentiated layers of lighter and darker rock. Near the far lower left corner is a small area of trees that is not far from the campgrounds of the Fruita area.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: scenic

Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park

Dawn Sky, Panamint Range

Red Rock at Dusk

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