Tag Archives: shadows

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

Dune Plants, Morning Light

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Dune Plants, Morning Light
Light from the morning sun slants across the face of sand dunes to illuminate desert plants.

Dune Plants, Morning Light. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light from the morning sun slants across the face of sand dunes to illuminate desert plants.

During times of what I consider to be the most interesting light in the dunes — right around sunrise and sunset — the scene changes with remarkable speed. These landscapes are so much about the color and angles of the light, and at these times both of those elements can change with great speed. One moment a subject might be dull and flat, but a moment later as a beam of light comes over a dune it may be spotlighted against shadows or its color may change drastically. I’m always surprised by how dynamic the photography process is in this supposedly static landscape!

I had earlier noticed this creosote bush and its small companion, but passed them by since they were in flat shadows. I turned my attention to something else further away, and when I looked at the nearer landscape a few minutes later I saw that the plants were in the sun and the light was touching the top of the dune in the upper part of the frame. I quickly turned my attention to this intimate landscape, and changed continuously as I made several exposures over what must have been no more than a minute or two.

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

Sunset Sand

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Sunset Sand
Sunset light, shadows, and sand dune textures, Death Valley National Park.

Sunset Sand. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light, shadows, and sand dune textures, Death Valley National Park.

In the evening I found myself in an isolated place. In fact, as near as I could tell, there was no one else in these dunes at all, despite a few parties being camped not far from my location. Taking stock of the orientation of the dunes and the surrounding topography, I decided that I wanted to be at the edge of the dunes about an hour before shadows from a tall ridge to me west would arrive there. I picked out a likely-looking destination in the distant dunes, waited in my “camp” for the right moment, and then headed that way.

The complex interplay between the warm-toned light angling low through the atmosphere, the hills that would inevitably cut off that light a bit before actual sunset, and the shapes, colors, and textures of the dunes plays out rather quickly. Sometimes the ideal light may last only minutes, though this can be extended a bit by looking for higher and lower spots to photograph and by paying attention to where the light will last a bit longer as it streams through low spots in the ridge. I thought that I was probably done for the evening until I looked toward this bit of dune texture, where the last bit of light was shining through one of those gaps in the mountains to the west.

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

Dunes and Hills, Evening

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Dunes and Hills, Evening
Evening light on rocky desert hills and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dunes and Hills, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on rocky desert hills and sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

You may see a few photographs of this ridge and its low peaks over the next week or two. It was not my main reason for going to this location, nor was it my target when I set out on foot to photograph nearby. But as soon as I started walking I found myself intrigued by its form, the large valley beyond it, and the combination of rocky formations and a thin distribution of blown sand. I ended up photographing it on successive days on my way to and from another subject.

The ridge illustrates an important general fact about much of the Death Valley National Park geography, namely that there are a whole lot of ridges and valleys that trend roughly in a north-south direction. (Technically, the line tens to run sort of northwest to southeast.) It turns out that this is really important to photographers, since much of the early morning and early evening light either strikes features directly or else leaves them in shadow. If you are keeping track of my photographs of this feature, you’ll see a clear example of this. In a previously posted photograph made at one end of the day, the ridge is almost entirely in shadow, with just a bit of rim light near the top, and only the distant mountains are in the sun. Here the table are turned, and the ridge is fully illuminated while the distant mountains are in soft, shadow light.

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

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Silo and Shadows

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Silo and Shadows
Morning shadows fall across the curving surface of an agricultural silo, Central Valley, California.

Silo and Shadows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning shadows fall across the curving surface of an agricultural silo, Central Valley, California.

This photograph comes from the area where I first learned about bird photography. I’ve told the story before, but here’s the outline. I had almost no interest in photographing birds — it was completely outside my experience. One morning I was at my local espresso stand when I struck up a conversation with a friend who was also in the line. She happened to mention a birding location that she liked just south of Sacramento, California. For some reason, I was intrigued, and since I had some time to drive a few days later I headed out there, not knowing what I would find. It was a winter morning and as the sun rose I found thousands of birds everywhere — on the ground and in the sky. I had not idea what kind of birds they were (I think I assumed that all birds were geese…) but I was hooked. This was the start of a passion for photographing them.

You may wonder how that connects with this photograph. As I explored that area I came to some flooded rice fields, and nearby found a structure including several silos. I photographed it, and periodically I’ve returned to photograph it again. I photographed this view on a sunny morning, when the reflections of angled pipes, ladders, supports, and wire produced a complex pattern across the curving, corrugated metal skin of this silo.

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.

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.