Tag Archives: utah

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

Sandstone Cliff Detail

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Sandstone Cliff Detail
“Sandstone Cliff Detail” — A section of a sandstone cliff face featuring fracturing, strata, exfoliation, and water markings.

The textures, forms, colors, and patterns found in Utah sandstone walls amaze me. They can be so complex that I sometimes imagine that I see things like writing or images, but patterns formed naturally over the millennia. Here we can see layering at more than one angle, marks left by dripping and flowing water, the effects of exfoliation, and more.

This bit of wall might usually not get a lot of attention. If I recall correctly (it has been a decade) I found it in an odd corner of a canyon at Capitol Reef — not in a particularly iconic location within the park. Because it was later in the day the high canyon walls blocked the direct sunlight, allowing the softer light to fill that shadows a bit and reveal more details.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Utah Morning Sky

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Utah Morning Sky
“Utah Morning Sky” — A cloud-filled dawn sky aboe Capitol Reef, National Park, Utah.

Back in 2014 a friend and I met up at Capitol Reef National Park for a few days of photography. I was on a long trip, first shooting in Southern Utah alone before we joined up at Capitol Reef. (Afterward I met other friends at Grand Staircase-Escalante, made a quick visit to Boulder, and eventually joined my family at Zion.) I made this photograph early in the morning on the day we headed into the back country along Notom Bullfrog Road.

Although my main goals were further down this backcountry road, soon after we turned onto it the sun rose and the early morning light illuminated a beautiful cloud-filled sky. We had no choice but to stop! We quickly found a high location with a panoramic view and set up to photograph this marvelous sky and light.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Creek Bed, Autumn Leaves

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Creekbed, Autumn Leaves
“Creek Bed, Autumn Leaves” — Autumn leaves scattered on the sand of a creek bed, Zion National Park.

Photographing desert canyon streambeds like this one in Zion National Park is rewarding in so many ways. They are little laboratories in composition, texture, alight, and color, with nearly infinite variations. Water, whether by the current flow or the aftereffects of its passage, produces all sorts of fascinating patterns. It rearranges, moves, and sometimes collects whatever is loose — in this case autumn leaves. The light can be magnificent, soft and colorful. In ideal conditions it reflects back and forth between red rock canyon walls before softly and warmly bathing the canyon depths.

Beyond all of that photographic stuff, canyons are just fascinating places to be. The walls cut off the outside world, and your horizons are measured in feet. It is usually very quiet, with the exception of a bit of breeze, the sounds of water, and sometimes a bird song. When I visit them I wander slowly, taking it all in.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest

Slot Canyon Detail

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Slot Canyon Detail
“Slot Canyon Detail” — Details of the wall of a Utah slot canyon, illuminated by reflected light.

There is a lot I could write about this photograph, the circumstances of making it, and how it ended up here today. First off, it is an older photograph, made years ago. I periodically revisit my old raw file archives, and I always discover photographs that I left behind. In this case, someone else’s photograph from the Southwest triggered me to review my older work from Utah, much of which is over a decade old. So far, I’ve rediscovered about twenty interesting Utah images from that period. Stay tuned!

The photograph came from a productive expedition to Utah during the autumn of 2014. I started out traveling and photographing solo, but eventually joined up with others as I worked in the southern part of the state for weeks. Early on that trip I almost randomly ended up at this location. I drove down a dirt road that looked interesting, found a place to park, and started walking down a shallow stream bed. The route entered a canyon that soon narrowed and turned into a slot canyon. It was only later that I discovered that I had been in a bit of a special place.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.