Tag Archives: strata

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

Layers and Folds

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Layers and Folds
The complex geology of badlands terrain, Death Valley National Park.

Layers and Folds. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The complex geology of badlands terrain, Death Valley National Park.

The landscape of Death Valley National Park is extremely varied. The popular imagination first focuses on scenes of sand dunes, the classic signifier of “desert.” But the place is full of canyons, stream beds, surprising instances of water, mountain peaks, and even forests of several types. All of these are special, but scenes like this one may embody one of the the most common elements of this landscape, the exposure of its underlying geology.

The area of this photograph is incredibly complex. It is a maze of small, eroded formations and canyons, all of them interconnected. Underlying this are uplifted layers of material in colors ranging from nearly black to nearly white, interspersed with surprising bits of red, blue, and green. I photographed here early in the morning because the light was softer and richer and because the low angle of the sun entering the scene from the side delineated the eroded features.

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

Twisting Canyon

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Twisting Canyon
Canyon narrows twist through mountains of Death Valley National Park.

Twisting Canyon. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Canyon narrows twist through mountains of Death Valley National Park.

Near the end of March we spent an afternoon hiking up this narrow desert canyon in a somewhat remote location in Death Valley National Park. Our plan was to be in its narrows, of which there are several, at a point in the afternoon when there was still plenty of light reflecting down from above… but not so much direct light from the midday sun. So we hiked directly up the canyon without making too many stops, passing right through the narrows without stopping. We took a break, unpacked photographic equipment, and reentered the canyon to begin our return hike, which would be much slower as we stopped to photograph.

In this section the narrow canyons walls were not only close together, but they also twist and turn quite a bit. The wash at the bottom of the canyon here follows a rather zigzag path, perhaps following some ancient weaknesses in the rock. Here there were also more large rocks on the canyon floor than I typically see in these narrow sections — my assumption is that the water, diverted by this winding path though the twisting section, may be a bit more likely to drop its load of rocks and gravel here.

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

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

Canyon and Strata

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Canyon and Strata
A desert wash in a winding badlands canyon leads toward contrasting strata, Death Valley National Park.

Canyon and Strata. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A desert wash in a winding badlands canyon leads toward contrasting strata, Death Valley National Park.

This juxtaposition of very dark and very light layers in this badlands terrain has long fascinated me. Often the contrasts among the various layers are relatively subtle, even where obvious colors are involved — but here we see nearly the darkest forms right next to some of the lightest. The material in the foreground is perhaps closer to the typical coloration.

There is a lot to look at in terrain like this, especially when viewed from a slight elevation. In some ways the largest forms mimic and expand on the smallest. Tiny irregularities combine to produce larger versions of themselves, and then these combine to produce larger gullies, which themselves collect together to form that great washes that drain the landscape.

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.

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

Colorful Strata

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Colorful Strata
Colorful badlands strata in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

Colorful Strata. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Colorful badlands strata in morning light, Death Valley National Park.

This subject may look familiar if you have been following my posts recently. It is a portrait-orientation composition of a feature that I also photographed in landscape orientation. (You might also think it looks a lot like a different iconic feature in Death Valley — it does, but it is not the thing you may be thinking of.) This is a sort of photograph that I make frequently, a small “excerpt” of a much larger landscape scene, photographed with a long focal length lens. The just-arrived early morning light warmed the colors a bit and brought out the pink and blue tones of the layers.

Photographing these kinds of desert colors can be challenging They are fascinating, but they are also often quite subtle, at least to my eye. In all but the best light they seem almost too faint to come through in a photograph. Some photographers compensate by significantly enhancing the intensity of the colors, but the result rarely appeals to me. Some particular qualities of the light made it work this time. Because it was shortly after dawn the light retained a warmer coloration. Some high, thin clouds muted and softened the light a bit. The band of darker material at the bottom contrasts with the lighter tones and with the 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, 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.