Morning, Dune Shadows. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Sand dunes with blue-tinted shadows and scattered creosote plants in soft morning light.
As I usually do when photographing here, I arrived very early and began my walk out to a less-busy area of the dunes well before sunrise. The dawn and sunset transitions between night and day move quickly and, of course, present some of the most interesting visual opportunities. I photograph right though these transitional periods, often working quickly to try to take advantage of as many of the transient opportunities as possible.
When I look at this photograph I recall many things from this morning and others like it. The air is still and only hinting at the intense heat that will arrive later. As the first sunlight hits the tops of the dunes there is a striking contrast between the warm colors in the light and the blues in the shadows, where the light comes from the overhead bowl of the blue sky. As sun rises higher the light intensifies and the color gradually becomes less intense, providing new photographic opportunities.
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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