Tag Archives: wash

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

The Edge Of The Valley

April 20, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on golden hills and a wash at the base of the Black Mountains

I often use a sort of scheduling strategy when photographing in Death Valley. I get up before dawn and start with some subject that works will in the first light, and then I work a second subject that is promising in somewhat later light. Following a midday break (spent in camp or perhaps traveling to a more distant location) I reverse course later in the day, starting with a subject that works in non-golden hour light and then moving to one that works well around sunset and beyond. If conditions are right, I may even add a night subject! The second morning subject and the first afternoon subject are often canyons of one sort or another, where the edge-of-the-day light can be too dim, but where later light from a higher sun can be wonderful.

I had begun this afternoon’s photography with such a subject, one of the canyons along the eastern side of the valley. In the 90 degree plus afternoon heat I loaded up my pack with camera gear and water and slowly wandered into a narrow canyon where there was beautiful shade and somewhat moderated temperatures. Eventually it was time to return from the canyon and I reversed course and emerged from the mouth of the canyon during golden hour. This time I didn’t even have to travel to the final location since I was already there! At the time I made this photograph the long shadow of the Panamint range had stretched almost all the way across the valley and would soon steal the light from these hills, but for a few moments the golden light produced lengthy shadows and a colorful glow on the hills and along the wash emerging from the canyon.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Hills And Alluvial Fan

April 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light on desert hills and a gigantic alluvial fan above the salt flats of Death Valley

There are a number of things that characterize Death Valley for me — the arid climate, of course, but also the exposed geology, the texture and sound of gravel underfoot, the widely scattered plant life, the quality of atmosphere and light. But most of all I think it is the immense scale of the place that impresses me. It is easy to overlook the fact that the small hill or those dunes or that peak that seem so close may be far enough away that you could not walk there in a day, or that it might take a few hours of driving.

That scale is visible in this photograph, though it may not be immediately apparent. While the foreground was, with its low walls illuminated by early morning light, is very close, and getting to the first dark hill might take no more than 15 minutes, the further hill down on the lower portion of the alluvial fan might require a morning’s walk. It would likely take all day to get to the closest portion of the distant salt flats, and the furthest areas at the upper part of the frame would require a few days of walking. I arrived at this place — but not by walking! — before the sun rose, when it was cloudy and seemed like it might not be a good day for light. But there were a few breaks in the clouds, and across the valley to the right of the scene some sun was striking a mountain ridge. Before long, as the sun came up and rose higher in the sky, that light began to move closer until it finally washed across the landscape in front of me.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Hills, Morning

April 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light slants across desert hills, Death Valley National Park

If you know Death Valley well, you already know this — but to many of you it may come as a surprise to realize just how much of Death Valley’s character is the result of the actions of water. The main valley itself was once the floor of a huge lake, and quite a few formations were formed beneath its surface. Once you realize this you begin to see the evidence everywhere. And in the time since the lake’s waters receded, the effects of water have continued in other ways. Evidence of flowing water is everywhere, from the gullies inscribed into the hillsides, to the washes that are found almost everywhere, and including the gigantic alluvial fans forms as floods carried eroded material from the high mountains out onto the desert floor. This extraordinarily dry landscape is, oddly enough, one of the easiest places to see the effects of water.

I had originally planned to photograph in a salt flat area where a bit of water flows, but when I arrived and found that my intended distant subject was under dim, cloudy light I decided to go with plan b and move on to higher ground. I had scoped out this location on a previous evening and was intrigued by the overlapping patterns of darker hills rising above the alluvial fan and the way they recede into distant haze. In the morning I could tell from a distance that there was light up here, so I quickly headed this direction, arriving just as the first light touched some clouds overhead. As I continued to photograph the clouds moved, bringing alternating periods of hazy gloom and then beautiful light.

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

Winter Surf, Mountains

August 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Powerful winter surf washes over rocks at Point Lobos.

I have gone to Point Lobos for decades, beginning when I was a child and my family would visit. I especially remember exploring the accessible tide pools. Today I especially like to go there on foggy days or in the winter, when the raw power of the Pacific Ocean is most visible, with winter storms churning up huge surf.

It was on such a day that I visited last January — in fact, reports of high surf were almost certainly what made me decide to visit that day. Because this coastline faces west, in the morning the coastal hills, being to the east, are often in shadow. To make this photograph I found an outcropping from which I could look back to the southwest toward the shore and juxtapose the rear of a huge wave washing over offshore rocks with the dark and ominous face of the mountains rising behind in shadow.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: wash

The Edge Of The Valley

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Hills And Alluvial Fan

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Desert Hills, Morning

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Winter Surf, Mountains

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.