Tag Archives: utah

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

Sandstone and Trees

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Sandstone and Trees
“Sandstone and Trees” — Scattered trees find footholds in cracks in the weathering sandstone, Zion National Park.

Except for one element, you could find a similar scene in California’s Sierra Nevada. That one element? The intense coloration of the Utah sandstone red rock formations. The contrast between the green trees and the red sandstone is striking, as is the complexity of the geology —with strata and layers intersecting and exfoliation gradually removing the topmost layers.

I photographed this scene some years ago on a visit to Zion National park. These colors and textures provide a visual playground for photographers. And sometimes wildlife even joins in the fun — on one occasion I photographed big horn sheep on nearby slopes.

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

Red Rock Mountains, Autumn Foliage

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Red Rock Mountains, Autumn Foliage
“Red Rock Mountains, Autumn Foliage” — Fall foliage along a creek below red rock mountains, Capitol Reef National Park.

This photograph contains the quintessential color palette of the Southwest in general and this Utah landscape in particular: red rock, green trees (here starting to pick up the golden tones of autumn), blue sky, and brown water. I made the photograph while looking for scenes of non-iconic subjects at Capitol Reef.

I ended up here partway through a long trip to photograph in Southern Utah. I photographed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef and Zion National Parks, and a few other more remote areas. This visit was some years ago, and I would like to return and investigate more of Capitol Reef National Park, a place where it seems that many of the most interesting features are some distance from the main tourist areas.

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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

Trees On Sandstone Cliff

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Trees on Sandstone Cliff
”Trees on Sandstone Cliff ” — Two small trees grow from cracks in a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park.

Today I am sharing yet another “lost and found” photograph, again from a decade-ago visit to Utah and, in this case, Zion National Park. (“Lost and found” photographs disappeared into my raw file archives, only to be rediscovered years later.) This one features a bit of vegetation, including some with developing fall color, growing in the cracks of a sandstone cliff.

I am impressed by how little some trees need to make a success of it. In the Sierra Nevada I have seen beautiful little trees growing on little more than a shallow bowl in the granite holding a few hands full of soil. Here the trees are growing in cracks in the solid sandstone, and must have little or no actual soil to nourish them.

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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: Utah

Below the Cliff

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Below the Cliff
“Below the Cliff” — Trees at the base of a sandstone cliff, Zion National Park.

this photograph comes from a trip to Utah and Zion National Park over a dozen years ago. It is also another of my “lost and found” photographs — from a file that has languished in my raw file archives since that time. I think I may have left it behind after working up a different photograph of the same cliff.

This is a classic Utah red rock canyon scene, with bright green trees (just barely starting to take on autumn colors) at the base of red rock cliffs. I love how the red and green stand out against one another. As I’ve said before, this Sierra Nevada guy, after a visit to Utah, always feels like the gray rock of his “home range” looks a bit… bland.

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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.