Tag Archives: sculpted

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Slot Canyon

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Desert Slot Canyon
Desert canyon narrows curve past sculpted rock walls, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Slot Canyon. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert canyon narrows curve past sculpted rock walls, Death Valley National Park.

No, I’m not quite done yet with the photographs from this year’s foray to Death Valley. Visiting the park is an annual tradition for me — sometimes more than once. I often go around the end of winter or beginning of spring, and I would have missed last year’s visit but for the lucky timing that took me there in January of 2020. Since then I had wondered whether the pandemic was going to force a break in the annual ritual, but after being vaccinated it seemed plenty safe to go there and stay (mostly) in uncrowded, out-of-the way places. I was wonderful to be back there!

This is another photograph made in one of the narrows of a canyon that is a bit off the beaten track. (Despite the prominence of some well-known icons in this park, the place is full of other wonders that are far enough from pavement to decrease the number of visitors.) I camped in complete solitude near the entrance to this canyon, and that gave me the chance to explore in in both late afternoon and early morning light. The the narrower sections of the canyon there can be wonderful contrasts between the warmer colors where the canyon walls get a bit of sun and the darker sections that remain in the cool-colored shadows.

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

The Last Leaves

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The Last Leaves
The last autumn leaves on trees and bushes above sculpted rocks along a bend in the Escalante River.

The Last Leaves. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The last autumn leaves on trees and bushes above sculpted rocks along a bend in the Escalante River.

Fall is my favorite season. I’m not really a summer person — too hot! — but the warm early autumn days are just about perfect. I love winter, too, and part of the appeal of fall is the certainty that winter, the time of “interesting” weather is coming soon, too. And as fall moves on toward winter the first of the Pacific cold weather systems begin to arrive, and snow begins to arrive in the Sierra.

Before that happens, though, we go through the autumn color season. In recent years I have discovered that I can stretch it out for months. For me it begins with a few early changes by the beginning of September in the Sierra which culminate a month later with the spectacular aspen color. Then the color works its way west across the range and down into the westside valleys, before it finally begins to peak in November nearer the coast. There’s still a bit left in December… and sometimes even later. I photographed this scene deep in the canyon of the Escalante River along a rocky bend where the final colors of the season were just about spent.

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 and Amazon.

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

Sculpted Sandstone

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Sculpted Sandstone
Detail of a section of eroded sandstone cliff at Arches National Park.

Sculpted Sandstone. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of a section of eroded sandstone cliff at Arches National Park.

To be honest, I’m not sure I could find this bit of sandstone cliff again if I went back to Arches National Park and looked for it. I think I have a vague idea of where it was, but if I’m correct it was just one small section of a much larger wall that ran for a significant distance. But isn’t that part of the challenge of the red rock country, that there are so many impressive and fascinating walls with unending variations of color and form?

The basic shapes of the rock walls, arches, buttresses, and ridges are fascinating in their own right. But the surface textures of the rock are immensely varied and interesting. The blue material coats these rocks in many places, and it can outline erosion patters in the rock. There are vertical lines everywhere, formed by water oozing, dripping, flowing, and occasionally flooding across the faces. And the color can vary from hour to hour as the angle and quality of the sunlight change, and as light reflected from other red rock surfaces intensifies the color.

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 and Amazon.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sculpted Sandstone

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Sculpted Sandstone
Sky light reflected on sculpted and curving sandstone in a Utah slot canyon

Sculpted Sandstone. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sky light reflected on sculpted and curving sandstone in a Utah slot canyon

We have to change the way we think about the daily progression of light when photographing in slot canyons. I first learned this when photographing in the red sandstone country of Utah, but it is just as true in the relatively less colorful canyons of Death Valley or even in some places in the plain gray granite landscape of the Sierra Nevada. In most cases we are drawn to the warm, early morning light, with its long shadows and lovely color. But in the canyons that light can be far less compelling, and it may even just end up seeming drab. Once you reset your expectations you find that the best canyon light often comes in the middle of the day, when the sun rises high enough to directly illuminate the red canyon rims, and then this light bounces and reflects downward into the canyon depths.

I made this photograph in a spot in a Utah canyon that was perhaps an even better than usual location for reflected canyon light. The rock was red standstone. Late-morning sunlight lit the upper rim, and that light suffused the lower reaches of the canyon. But here the narrow section of slot canyon wasn’t very long, and some bluish light from the sky reflected on angled rock surfaces, introducing a striking color contrast to the scene.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.