Tag Archives: southwest

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

Tree and Shadow’s Edge

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Tree and Shadow's Edge
A border between light and shadow moves across a tree at the base of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park.

Tree and Shadow’s Edge. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A border between light and shadow moves across a tree at the base of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park.

Sometimes (oh, heck, often) photographs come about in somewhat unsuspected ways, and this is such a photograph. In October we were in Southern Utah and we had previously spent a day photographing in Zion Canyon. The general plan on this day was to photograph along Mt. Carmel Highway in the morning (which we did), grab some coffee and food beyond the park, and then, well, we weren’t quite sure. The day evolved organically and we ended up on some interesting Utah backroads crossing some surprisingly snowy highland before we eventually ended up in Cedar City. We gassed up the vehicle and realized that we had time for a quick side trip into Kolob Canyon on our way back toward our eventual destination.

I’ve been in the less-visited and less-developed section of Zion National Park several times. In addition to being a jumping off point for lots of interesting trails, it presents some landscapes opportunities that are quite different from those of the more familiar Zion Canyon. I’ve usually been there earlier in the day, so it was fascinating to observe the place in late-day light. Much of this landscape is huge, even “epic” in scale, but as I scanned it I started to see smaller vignettes that seemed interesting. In particular, I noticed that this shadow was moving from left to right and gradually lighting the prominent tree in the center of the scene, casting its shadow on the brightly-lit sandstone behind it.

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

Cliff Detail

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Cliff Detail
Diverse fractures and surface patterns on the sandstone walls of a Utah canyon.

Cliff Detail. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Diverse fractures and surface patterns on the sandstone walls of a Utah canyon.

On this late-October day, a cold one in this part of Utah, our little band of photographers took a long drive on a gravel road. Eventually we stopped at an inauspicious pull-out — I don’t recall a sign, though there may have been a small one. We loaded packs and set out across some dry terrain, and soon entered a small canyon at the base of tall hills, a canyon that looked much like many other such canyons.

This was not a large canyon, and our walk into it was shorter than the walk into some longer canyons we had investigated. It was also a rough little place, and it did not give up photographs as easily as some other more-picturesque places. Near the far point in our exploration we came upon this remarkable bit of sandstone canyon wall, with patterns on the surface of the rock that reminded me of sunbursts.

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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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

Canyon Cottonwoods, Autumn

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Canyon Cottonwoods, Autumn
The sandstone walls of a Utah canyon tower above autumn cottonwood trees.

Canyon Cottonwoods, Autumn. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The sandstone walls of a Utah canyon tower above autumn cottonwood trees.

Back on this autumn day in 2012 three of us entered this lovely canyon and gradually worked our way down a few miles of its length, following its sinuous path around bends as it dug deeper into the red rock landscape of Southern Utah. I had spent close a month in Utah that season, and this was during the final few days of this period — and this “Sierra Guy” was starting to get a feel for this beautiful landscape.

These trees, in peak autumn color, stood at a bend in the canyon. This river canyon follows a classic meandering pattern, with short straight sections alternating with bends carved deeply into the sandstone terrain. In general the straight sections tend to be a bit more open while the bends tend to be places of deeper shade. This spot was definitely in the latter category, and the reflected soft light saturated the warm tones of the autumn colors.

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

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

Autumn, Red Rock Country

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Autumn, Red Rock Country
Autumn colors appear in red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park.

Autumn, Red Rock Country. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors appear in red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park.

As best as I can recall — it was eight years ago! — I must have stopped alongside the road through Capitol Reef National Park to make this photograph, probably not far from the Fruita park facilities and campground. The photograph is looking more or less north along the front of the tall red rock formations that face to the west here.

This is a different view of this landscape than that presented in my recent photographs from the deep within the canyons. This is more about the grand, open landscape of this area, with long lines of stratified red-rock formations, great expanses of broad valleys, trees and brush, streams and rivers, and immense sky.

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.