Tag Archives: wash

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Panamint Range, Light Beams

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Panamint Range, Light Beams

Panamint Range, Light Beams. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams over the Panamint Range beyond the salt flats, Death Valley National Park, California.

Last April (2008) I was in DV for few days to photograph all around the area. One afternoon my brother and I drove to the south with a plan of photographing the salt formations near Badwater in the late afternoon and early evening light. As we got there we saw these tremendous light beams (a.k.a. “God Light”) coming through the clouds that had gathered over the ridge of the Panamint range to the west, and illuminating the arroyos along the east side of the range and occasionally the valley floor in the distance.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: salt, flats, death, valley, national park, playa, light, beams, god light, panamint, mountains, range, telescope, peak, ridge, atmospheric recession, clouds, sun, light, snow, arroyo, wash, sky, scenic, travel, landscape, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Zabriskie Point Abstract

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Zabriskie Point Abstract

Zabriskie Point Abstract. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates hills and gullies below Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California.

Another relatively abstract photograph of the amazing folded hills and gullies seen from Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. Here the sun has risen just enough to catch the upper portion of all of the small hills, but not high enough to light the shaded areas in the gullies between them. The idea here was to crop the scene tightly enough that nothing would be visible besides the shapes and textures of this small portion of the terrain.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the bizarre and amazing nature of the Zabriskie Point view – it is simply a place like no other and the view is otherworldly. But after going back a few times I have started to be able to see past the most obvious elements of the “grand scene” and I find some of the details interesting. (One of my favorite photographs from this area is not of a subject that most photographers would look at; it is a small – for lack of a more picturesque description – mud hill right next to the walkway between the parking lot and the official viewing area.)

keywords: zabriskie, point, fold, hills, gully, shadow, erosion, form, structure, geology, ridge, desert, dry, wash, death valley, national park, california, usa, abstract, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Sunset, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains

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Sunset, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains

Sunset, Death Valley Dunes and Funeral Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 1, 2008. Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of sunset at Death Valley Dunes with the Funeral Mountains in the distance.

Yet another photograph from this evening shoot at Death Valley Dunes near Stovepipe Wells. Here the foot of the rugged mountain range along the east side of the Valley (variously called the Amargosa Range or the Funeral Range?) can be see in the distance beyond the dunes.

keywords: death valley, national park, dunes, sand, light, shadow, plants, sand, desert, funeral, mountains, wash, sunset, california, usa, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, stock

Photographs: Death Valley

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

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Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains

Light Beams Over the Panamint Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams over the east face of the Panamint Mountains above Death Valley. Viewed from the east side of the Valley near Badwater.

I’ve been very lucky to encounter this phenomenon more than once when I’ve been in Death Valley. Although I know that most of the time it can be perfectly (too perfectly) clear there, I’ve seen clouds build over the Panamints in the afternoon during my April visits and then thin just enough late in the day to let these light beams shine through and illuminate the lower reaches of the Panamint Range.

keywords: panamint, mountains, range, death valley, national park, salt, flats, god light, clouds, sky, sun, shafts, ridge,wash, arroyo, plays, badwater, telescope, peak, snow, scenic, travel, stock, landscape, california, usa