Tag Archives: shadow

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

Rhyolite Bank Ruins, Full Moon Light

April 29, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The light of the rising full moon illuminates the ruins of the old bank building against a star-filled sky in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada.

I have photographed the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada on several occasions in the past, but always in the very early morning. (I have a habit of hitting Rhyolite before dawn, shooting as long as the light allows, visiting Beatty for cheap gas and breakfast, then heading back to Death Valley via Titus Canyon.) I have wanted to try photographing the location both at sunset and under a full moon, and the timing for both worked out on my late March visit to Death Valley National Park. Late on my second afternoon I headed east out of the Valley and over the pass and arrived at Rhyolite before sunset.

I spent some time wandering around the familiar locations in the unfamiliar late-day light. In the end, my suspicion that Rhyolite is more of an early morning location than an evening location seemed to be confirmed. At this time of year the sun sets a bit too far to the “right” as you look west, and the the light is blocked by a low hill at just the time it would otherwise become interesting. I did make some photographs of the ruins of the ghost town in the fading light… then I settled in to make a few night photographs of the tall bank building ruins.

I’m thinking of this as sort of a practice run for a return visit for more Rhyolite night photography. I think that the full moon timing has potential, but I want to try again and think more about the placement of the structures relative to the North Star. One more thing… when I arrived there was essentially no one else there. Soon a couple other photographers showed up, but the place was still relatively deserted. Then, after dark, I was surprised when a number of cars showed up. There was apparently some sort of night photography workshop visiting the place – perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that they acted like they owned the place and that the rest of us didn’t matter. Most night photographers would know better than to drive into a shooting location with headlights blazing, and they might ask photographers who were already there if their light painting would interfere with shots underway. Just sayin’…

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 22mm
ISO 200, f/11, 432 seconds

keywords: death valley, national, park, nevada usa, north america, scenic, travel, nature, desert, full, moon, light, rising, rhyolite, ghost, town, ruins, abandoned, weathered, column, bank, building, wall, window, sky, star, trail, night, nocturnal, photography, shadow, historic, mining, stock

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

Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

April 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Zabrisksie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds — Zabriskie Point Detail, Gullies and Folds

Black and white photograph of patterns of gully and hills in bright daytime light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Here I decided to try a black and white high key approach to this generally very bright scene shot not in the typical early morning time frame, but about two hours or so after the middle of the day. I like the way that darker, shadowed wedge of hill on the right sits in the middle of the curving line of the gully as outlined by the lighter face in the full sun. As with several other photographs I’ve posted recently from this area, I used a rather long focal length and composed an image from a very small detail of the scene in the folded hills below 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 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 330mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/80 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, desert, geology, folds, gully, earth, hill, bright, day, daytime, light, shadow, pattern, texture, curve, angle, black and white, monochrome, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, high key, stock, southern

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

Sunlit Gully, Zabriskie Point

April 17, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Photograph of a sunlit gully in afternoon light at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Zabriskie Point is a justifiably famous overlook in Death Valley National Park – arguably the iconic view of the park, with the pyramid-shaped Manley Point above amazingly folder patterns of hills and gullies and with Death Valley and the sometimes snow topped summit of the Panamint Range beyond. (OK, the dunes might compete with Zabriskie in the Icon department…)

Everyone photographs at Zabriskie, and I’m no exception. However, my approach to this location has changed over time. At first any Zabriskie sunrise seems worth photographing, and in all honesty sunrise there is an amazing experience in all but the worst conditions. Eventually, though, you become a bit more discerning and not just any sunrise will do. I’ll generally only shoot sunrise there now if I think that the conditions will be extra spectacular, usually meaning some combination of clear or otherwise interesting lower atmosphere, perhaps snow on the Panamints, and some interesting clouds overhead. But even that is starting to feel a bit overworked.

Recently I’ve been trying to figure out what (and how) to photograph here without doing “the usual thing.” Several ideas have come to mind. Earlier I posted a photograph of the Manifold formation made at night under a full moon, and I think there is still more potential there. As others have done, I’ve played around with trying to find shooting locations other than the familiar one near the overlook. This photograph is an attempt to combine two other approaches that I’m working on – detail shots of small elements of the scene made with a long lens and shots made during the day at times other than the “normal” sunrise time.

I first saw this small gully a couple years ago when I happened to stop at Zabriskie during the mid-morning period on my way back from shooting somewhere else. Initially I just thought I’d wander up the path from the parking lot, scout things out a bit, and move on. But as I looked at the scene I realized that not all parts of this spot are necessarily best lit at sunrise, and that some actually can become interesting during the less obvious times of day. This is one attempt at a further exploration of this particular twisting gully, here shot in very bright daytime sun light only slightly diffused by high thin clouds.

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 400mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/125 second

keywords: zabriskie, point, fold, gully, hill, pattern, light, shadow, ridge, brown, golden, wash, rugged, gravel, dirt, geology, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, desert, formation, afternoon, winding, stock

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

Salt Flats Near Badwater, Evening

April 13, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white vertical format photograph of evening on the salt flats of Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California.

Yes, I’m still mining the Death Valley photographs from my late March trip. And there are more to come… :-)

This photograph was made in evening light on the salt flats of Badwater Basin, not far from the “official” Badwater area – but far enough away that there were only a couple other photographers out here enjoying the solitude and the beautiful evening light. A few weeks earlier this area had been flooded by unusually heavy rains in Death Valley. From all appearances (and from photographic evidence that I’ve seen) the photographers who were first on the scene had to do a bit of wading to get out onto the salt flats. Some of them were rewarded for their efforts with wonderful and unusual images, including reflections of the Panamint range in the circular pools between the polygons of raised salt.

By the time I arrived the area was no longer flooded, though it was clear that the playa beneath the drying salt crust was still wet. In places some of the water appeared in cracks and in other spots walking on the salt felt a lot like walking on winter pond ice. During the flooding, the usually tall ridges between the salt “polygons” seem to have dissolved. Typically they are perhaps up to a few inches tall and contain large cracks. At the time I arrived, the counter had apparently been set back to zero – and the salt surface was almost completely flat, though it is obvious that the polygon outlines were still visible and beginning to rise a bit. The vertical ridge leading away from the camera position in the lower portion of the frame is a good example.

I went with black and white in this rendition since the sky had not really lit up yet – in other words, color wasn’t necessarily the main feature of the scene. I also liked what I could do with the clouded sky and the distant ridge in black and white.

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 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 35mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second

keywords: salt, flat, polygon, pattern, landscape, nature, geology, hills, mountains, sky, dark, clouds, evening, dusk, sunset, haze, atmosphere, light, shadow, badwater, basin, death valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, travel, scenic, black and white, monochrome, texture, curve, stock

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