Tag Archives: view

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Playa and Shadowed Ridge

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Playa and Shadowed Ridge
“Playa and Shadowed Ridge” — Morning sunlight on the playa of Death Valley beyond a nearby shadowed ridge.

On one hand, this is an interesting record of something you can see in high places above Death Valley following a very wet season. On the other hand, there are several stories behind this photograph. It was morning, and I had arrived at this high overlook before dawn. Eventually the shadows of the mountains upon which I stood retreated across the valley towards me, leaving the playa in sun. At the moment that I made this exposure, there was just a small stub of the mountain shadow still in the valley, yet the jagged ridge just below me was still in dark shade.

Far below, there was a lot of water on the desert playa, much more than usual. Heavy rains during recent months had flooded a large section of the valley, and here a large pond is visible among the deposits that spread across the playa. A twisting, meandering stream leads to it. Farther out on the playa there are more channels — this landscape that we think of as being arid and hot was, on this day, full of water.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains, Morning

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Desert Mountains, Morning
“Desert Mountains, Morning” — A sunrise view across rugged desert mountain rainges from Dantes View, Death Valley.

I arrived at this well-known location high the Black Mountains well before sunrise. I’ve photographed here in the evening, but this time I was looking for sunrise light, which first touches the peaks of the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley, then works its way down and across the valley. Aside from the moments just before and after sunrise, these things happen relatively slowly, so I had plenty of time to look around at other subjects, too, including this view of layered desert mountain ranges.

Death Valley is the star attraction here for most people, but it is surrounded by impressive mountain ranges on all sides, and most of them are visible from this ridge. They stretch off into the far distance to the southwest. (Yes, somewhere in that direction lies Los Angeles!) The photograph looks southward along the flank of the Black Mountains, then across salt flats in Death Valley, and on toWard far more distant mountains.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Death Valley and Black Mountains, Evening

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Death Valley and Black Mountains, Evening
“Death Valley and Black Mountains, Evening” — A long evening view across Death Valley toward the distant Black Mountains and Badwater.

Early morning and evening are often the times of best light for photography in Death Valley. It isn’t that you cannot photograph throughout the day, especially if you get into the right kinds of canyons. But then the light can be harsh, the atmosphere hazy, and the colors and details washed out. So I usually follow a strange schedule when I go there to photograph — up well before dawn, back in camp by late morning, breakfast at 11:00AM, then off to photograph again in the late afternoon before I come back to camp after dark.

On this afternoon I had made a long drive up into the mountains, with my plan being to return this direction for the evening light. My timing worked out, and I got here just before the best colors appeared, found a good location, and was set up as the shadows stretched across the valley toward the Black Mountains.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountain Ridges

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Desert Mountain Ridges
“Desert Mountain Ridges” — Layes of desert mountain ridges stretch to the east, Death Valley National Park.

This is one of those “photograph the thing you did not go for” photographs, seen while mostly focusing on an entirely different subject. I was in Death Valley partly because I go there every year at about this time, and partly to photograph the rare reappearance of Lake Manly. (This lake reformed following heavy rains in the desert starting late last summer.) On this morning I went to a point high above the valley to photograph the broad setting of the lake and to use long lenses to isolate details. But the lake is nowhere in this photograph…

… because this scene was in the opposite direction! I arrived well before sunrise, and while I waited for some of that sun to arrive in the valley the horizon to the east put on a spectacular show. Obviously the pre-dawn sky was impressive with its intense and varied colors. But the vast area visible from this point produced beautiful atmospheric recession over the layered ridges stretching into the far distance.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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