Tag Archives: travel

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

Eroded Formations, Bryce Canyon

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Eroded Formations, Bryce Canyon - Wildly eroded sandstone formations in morning light at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Wildly eroded sandstone formations in morning light at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Eroded Formations, Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. April 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildly eroded sandstone formations in morning light at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

During our early-April week-long visit to Utah, I discovered several things. For one, Utah is an amazing place to do photography. I just wish I had gone there much sooner – but now I’ll certainly have to return. For another, it is a big place and no one-week visit could possibly do it justice. Our main focus was on Zion during the first part of the trip, and then the area around Moab, including Arches and Canyonlands, for the second part. This meant that in between we unfortunately had to pass by some beautiful places with barely time to look at all. (Though we did get a chance to see a handful of such places enough that we know we want to return to them.)

One of the places that we only visited very briefly was Bryce Canyon. In a state full of visual superlatives, this is yet another almost unbelievable location with its high central area dropping off to lowlands by means of the famous rugged cliffs. We were in the park literally on a few hours and during more or less the middle of the day. Fortunately, there were some high clouds – and this was enough to soften the potentially harsh midday sun a bit. One thing I’ve come to look for when shooting in terrain like this – steep towers separated by narrow gullies – is the light the is reflected from the sunlit side of the towers into the shaded portions. It can produce a wonderfully colorful glow. To get this, it is necessary to shoot a bit later, when the sun is high enough to shine down into these gullies. It is also a good idea to shoot into the sun, with the subjects back-lit, as I did here.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove

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Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove - Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.
Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. March 29, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.

For some reason this little vignette caught my attention when I visited Point Lobos one morning in late March. The spot is a section of the curving beach at the inside of Whalers Cove, where a bluff sits above short cliffs at the edge of the sand. This is another of those spots that I have visited for literally decades, yet never photographed. Although I have photographed nearby I don’t think I have any photographs of this little beach area at all, but I’ve been eyeing it during my last few visits.

The cove itself is an appealing spot, somewhat different from many other parts of Point Lobos. Those tend to feature quite rugged seashore, often with cliffs and rocks that run right down into the surging water of the Pacific Ocean. But this cove is doubly protected from the ocean, by being a cove and by having an entrance that does not face straight out toward the ocean. It is filled with kelp beds and is a good place to look for sea lions very close to the shore. (Several were hanging out, wrapped in kelp and lounging around, not more than a few feet from the shore.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Skeletal Tree and Sandstone Cliff

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Skeletal Tree and Sandstone Cliff - The skeletal remains of a dead tree stand in front of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park
The skeletal remains of a dead tree stand in front of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park

Skeletal Tree and Sandstone Cliff. Zion National Park, Utah. April 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The skeletal remains of a dead tree stand in front of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I don’t recall exactly where I made this photograph. I’m pretty certain that I made it near the start of a walk up the Virgin River in Zion National Park in the afternoon, near the feature known as the Temple of Sinawava. Actually, I’m certain of all of that with the exception of knowing precisely where in the Temple of Sinawava area I made it. I do recall paying special attention to these red rock walls and looking for various subjects that I might combine with them to make photographs.

Speaking of the sandstone walls… on this side of the canyon and at this mid-afternoon time of day, little to no direct light makes it down to the floor of the canyon. So the lower walls are almost entirely in shade. However, the sun most certainly is still striking the upper canyon walls, and the reflected light from the sun-lit areas works like a giant light panel, reflecting softly diffused light down into the canyons and gently warming the colors that would otherwise be quite cool. (In other words, blue.) The diffused light causes even the shaded areas, such as recesses in the rock, to retain some details. And because the light is reflected from and into red sandstone canyon walls, the color of the light only gets warmer, and down in the canyon the color can be quite beautiful.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers

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Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers - The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.
The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.

Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers. Arches National Park, Utah. April 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.

This was a very challenging evening for photography, but I’m happy with some of the results nonetheless. We had gone into Arches National Park and made it to the first big group of arches and other formations not far from what I recall was identified as Balancing Rock. Not far from here there is an impressive amphitheater of red rock sandstone, and all through this area a truly astonishing number of arches of various forms and sizes may be found. Since it was late in the day, we figured we would stake out our ground for golden hour and dusk shots right around here.

However, there were a few challenges. First, we were arriving at this spot for the very first time, with no previous research, and it was basically time to start shooting right about now! There was little to no time for scouting, so I headed up a trail towards a likely looking area of sandstone to see what I could find as the sunset approached. I soon discovered a second issue, or perhaps realized that an issue I had known about was going to be more challenging than I had hoped – it was very windy! As the light dims this becomes more of a problem as exposures necessarily lengthen. At some point, there is virtually no tripod that is steady enough, even when weighted, to hold a camera and lens rock steady in a near gale. I have some tricks up my sleeve though, and eventually I searched out some camera positions that were sheltered by rock towers and walls. By this time, the sun had dropped below the horizon and I was now shooting it twilight, which can provide some of the most beautiful light of the day when the right sort of “glow” occurs. It turned out that the full moon was just rising, though not over the main, iconic formations. There is usually a narrow window of exposure opportunity for photographing the moon. The moon is hard to shoot effectively in full daylight, but after dark it is far too bright for the ambient light – so one ideal is to shoot it in this time right around dusk when there is just the right balance of moon light and ambient light. Lucky for me, high thin clouds moved across the sky to the east and moderated the brightness of the full moon, allowing me to continue shooting in darker conditions so that I could make this exposure of the moon rising above nearby sandstone formations.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.