Tag Archives: storm

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

Evening Storms

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Evening Storms
Evening rain clouds and dust storm above the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park

Evening Storms. Death Valley National Park, California. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening rain clouds and dust storm above the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park

This was a wild evening in Death Valley. While the clouds were generally moving toward clearing, we first saw extreme weather of several types. Down close to the ground there were big, billowing clouds of sand and dust being lofted above the Valley floor. High above that wildness huge weather front clouds built above desert mountains.

In the evening I decided to go our for one more photographic chase, even though the weather hardly seemed conducive to photography. In this case I resorted to an approach that I’ve used before in storms like this one, namely to put on the long focal length lens and shoot into the maelstrom from a distance. It this case, two storms were present at once: While high winds whipped up the sand and dust storm closer to the ground, overhead the monumental clouds of a rain storm towered over the desert mountains.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Mountains, Morning Haze

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Desert Mountains, Morning Haze
“Desert Mountains, Morning Haze” — Desert mountains and morning light illuminating haze that is the first sign of a developing dust storm

This is another “take” on roughly the same scene I shared in another recent photograph, also in black and white. When I made the photograph I was already thinking of it as a black and white image, and it obviously has ended up that way, more or less as planned. I was already familiar with the rugged foreground mountains from previous visits, but the light and atmospheric conditions on this visit were unique. The sky was fairly cloudy, though the ceiling was breaking up a bit, allowing light beams to break through. The atmosphere was extremely hazy. The positive aspect of this is that the light shining through it almost glowed. (In fact, that was probably what first attracted me to the scene.) The somewhat negative aspect is that the haze was the harbinger of a tremendous dust storm that would arrive later in the day.

The black and white rendition represents the result of a sort of pre-visualization. To my way of thinking, “pre-visualization” can mean a range of things. At one end of the spectrum it could mean almost literally “seeing” the finished photograph before making the exposure. In this case I knew I wanted the hazy light beams to glow, that I wanted to retain the dark mass of the foreground mountains, and that the final result would be black and white. But I don’t want to imply more certainty than I actually had. Despite my decent idea of where I was going, I did not know for sure what the exact best outcome would be and, in fact, I made some varied compositions and exposures. On a side note, although we didn’t quite realize it just yet, the haze that made the light so beautiful came from the first dust from dust storms that were building all around the area.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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

Clouds at Dawn, Death Valley

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Clouds at Dawn, Death Valley
Dawn storm clouds gather above Death Valley and desert mountain canyons

Clouds at Dawn, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. March 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn storm clouds gather above Death Valley and desert mountain canyons

From this high spot there is a true 360 degree panorama — east over Death Valley, stretching far to the north and south with more mountains beyond, south and north along the spine of the Panamint Range, and behind across mountains and valleys and eventually a few peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Many times when I have been here the conditions have been at least mildly challenging, often with wind and sometimes cold, and on at least one occasion snow. This morning was relatively benign with temperatures well above freezing and winds that didn’t start to truly howl until perhaps an hour after our arrival. The quieter conditions made the contrast between deep silence and immense landscape even more striking.

There was a brief burst of sunrise light when we arrived, but it quickly faded as thicker clouds from an incoming weather front blocked the light. But the clouds were moving and as the morning progressed they began to open up a bit. At the moment of this photograph the clouds still blocked the sunlight, but a narrow band of color remained above the far mountains and brighter skies were appearing through breaks in the clouds. Below a large wash snaked down the bottom of the huge canyon toward the playa of Death Valley far below.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Nature

Evening Rain and Sandstorm

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Evening Rain and Sandstorm
Evening rain and sandstorm as sun illuminates the Grapevine Mountains

Evening Rain and Sandstorm. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening rain and sandstorm as sun illuminates the Grapevine Mountains

During the spring season in Death Valley National Park almost anything can happen. It can be 90 degrees or higher, or it might snow. Days may be pleasant to sunny, or it could be overcast with huge winds and dust storms or rain. We just spent the better part of five days there, and I think I saw as great a range of conditions as I’ve encountered before. The second evening was particularly remarkable. We were up in Panamint Mountains when we first noticed the tell-tale haze of dust storms, and by the time we returned to the Valley it was so windy that there was nothing to do but hunker down and wait it out. Near sunset the winds began to abate a bit and we ventured outside. I heard a few claps of thunder and it began to rain huge drops. Later we discovered that it had snowed on the highest peaks.

A few days later the conditions were supposed to be more benign. We spend early morning hours photographing out on the dunes, then did a midday and afternoon hike up a beautiful canyon. Exiting the canyon we were surprised to see dust beginning to rise again, since the forecast had called for very light winds. By the time we got back to Stovepipe Wells the winds were howling, light rain was falling, and dust filled the atmosphere. A bit later things calmed down and I decided to make a quick evening trip to a nearby high point from which I could get an overview of the valley. Arriving there I could see a wild combination of dramatic light on up-valley mountains, rain falling on their summits, and the dust storm growing below. Within minutes of making this photograph the wind began to howl and the dust enveloped my position and I retreated once more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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