Tag Archives: towers

Three Sisters, Sheep Rock

Three Sisters, Sheep Rock
The Three Sisters, Sheep Rock, and other red rock formations, Arches National Park.

Three Sisters, Sheep Rock. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Three Sisters, Sheep Rock, and other red rock formations, Arches National Park.

There are so many things bound up in photographs like this one that it would be possible to write a book about it. This was my first visit to this landscape and, as such, it was part of the rare experience of being in a place that I did not know at all. It also raises questions about the value of photographing icons — hint: there is some, but it is complicated. It is a photograph I made some years ago, bringing up the value of revisiting photographs that were originally left behind or perhaps interpreted differently. It brings up the questions about what landscape photographers do when the landscape is inaccessible.

I made the photograph during perhaps my first hour or two in Arches National Park. For someone who read Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” decades ago, this visit was a long time coming. And, aside from that book, I came with few preconceptions about the park, and I had not researched before arriving. Consequently, as we drove in late the first afternoon I had almost no idea of what I would see. I was amazed.


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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Pinnacles And Desert Mountains

Pinnacles And Desert Mountains
Distant desert mountians rise beyond rocky pinnacles in midday light.

Pinnacles And Desert Mountains. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Distant desert mountians rise beyond rocky pinnacles in midday light.

Photographers would typically not photograph a subject like this one on a day like this or at this time of day — close to the middle of a perfectly clear day, with stark desert light. But that’s when I typically pass through this area, always on my travels to and from Death Valley. On this spring day I had gotten on the road very early to start the long drive, planning to arrive in the park by mid-afternoon, so being in this spot was a secondary effect of that planning

But this challenging midday desert light is perhaps more typical of such scenes, with their stark contrasts between bright light and deep, sharp-edged shadows. Here the foreground pinnacles are backlit and almost in silhouette, while in the distance the lower reaches of a giant desert mountain range begin to rise from this broad valley.


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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Desert Pinnacles

Desert PInnacles
Tufa pinnacles in the middle of a vast desert valley.

Desert Pinnacles. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tufa pinnacles in the middle of a vast desert valley.

These lonely tufa tower pinnacles stand alone in the middle of a very large Southern California desert valley. If you passed on the nearby highway and did not know they were there you could easily overlook them — though when you do spot them they make a striking sight.

Beyond their austere and striking visual appeal, they also provide evidence of the remarkable ways that the landscape formed. Despite being in a location which today seems about as arid and unforgiving as you can imagine, they were formed by water. This entire basin was filled with a lake a long time ago, and the towers grew around submerged springs. When the lake disappeared the towers remained.


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.

Bear Gulch Reservoir

Bear Gulch Reservoir
Spring at Bear Gulch Reservoir, Pinnacles National Park

Bear Gulch Reservoir. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring at Bear Gulch Reservoir, Pinnacles National Park.

This small reservoir sits at the upper end of a very popular trail through caves at Pinnacles National Park. The area has been in my consciousness for decades. The caves were perhaps the “main attraction” when my family visited the park (then a national monument) when I was just a kid, so I distinctly remember emerging from the canyon at the upper end of the caves to arrive at this reservoir. I’m not sure of its history, but I suspect that the reservoir has been there a very long time, certainly before it was even a a national monument.

The reservoir is relatively sheltered in the bottom of this canyon, and the water was very still on the day of this recent visit. The surrounding terrain is filled with the pinnacles that give the park its name. If you look closely, you may be able to see a couple of fellow hikers taking a rest in the shade next to the water in the lower left corner of the scene.


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 | FacebookEmail

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


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