Tag Archives: zabriskie

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

Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point

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Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point
“Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point” — Early morning light on the Red Cathedral and eroded terrain at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park.

This photograph was made at what may be the most famous location in Death Valley, the overlook area at Zabriskie Point. The photograph does not include the famous view of the spire of Manley Beacon, which is just out of the frame to the left in this image. Instead, the photograph focuses on the “Red Cathedral,” a ridge to the right of Zabriskie that rises above the rest of the surrounding eroded hills, is a darker and reddish color, and presents a deeply eroded face.

It is not an easy subject to photograph, and I still have some additional ideas on how else I might approach the feature as a subject. Exposure is a challenge when shooting the Red Cathedral. At first, as light comes to other nearby areas, this feature remains dark. When the sun does finally arrive here – as it is in this photograph – it rakes across the foreground gullies, brightly illuminates the light-colored ridge to the right, and picks off a few small areas of the Red Cathedral while leaving others in deep shade. To add insult to injury, there is a good chance that a photographer will be set up in a position that eventually gives very flat front lighting to the ridge. I may this exposure very shortly after the sun hit Manley Beacon and just as it was starting to light up the foreground gullies and small hills.

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

Eroded Gullies at Zabriskie Point, Morning

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Eroded Gullies at Zabriskie Point, Morning
Eroded Gullies at Zabriskie Point, Morning

Eroded Gullies at Zabriskie Point, Morning. Death Valley National Park, California. April 6, 2006. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Low angle morning light illuminates a tortured landscape of eroded gullies at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park.

I recently “rediscovered” this photograph while undertaking a major review of the past eight years of my raw files. (And, yes, that task is just about as much fun as you might imagine. It would actually be pretty unbearable except that every so often I find some photographs that I had perhaps forgotten or overlooked, and I also come across images that remind me of experiences that took place some time ago.)

This photograph was made, as virtually anyone who has visited the spot recognizes, by pointing my camera about 90 degrees to the left of the classic Zabriskie Point views. Timing was important, as the early light is just skimming across the tops of these tortuously eroded gullies, picking out the ridges between them but leaving the lower sections in shadow. But good fortune also played a role here. Death Valley is usually a clear blue sky kind of place, but on this morning I had clouds! At dawn, if I recall correctly, the clouds actually interfered with the light a bit. But as the sun rose the clouds provided a more dramatic background than plain blue sky and created some softer and diffused light that gave just the right sort of dynamic range for photographs.

On a technical note, if you are viewing this in the right web browser you can mouse over the image and see a summary of basic EXIF data. (Sorry, but this feature only works in web browsers – if you are viewing email, etc. you’ll need to visit the version at my blog to see the EXIF.) If you do check the EXIF you might notice that this photograph was made with a very humble example of photographic technology, the Canon Digital Rebel XT. This camera is a 8MP cropped sensor “consumer” camera that I acquired when I first tested the waters of DSLR photography. (I had actually used digital cameras back in the 1990s, but not for serious photographic work.) Those who wonder which of today’s current DSLRs might enable them to produce interesting and effective images might consider what could be done with such a humble camera. ;-)

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Manly Beacon, First Light

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Manly Beacon, First Light
Manly Beacon, First Light

Manly Beacon, First Light. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The first morning light strikes Manly Beacon at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park.

Icon alert!

I had more or less promised myself that I would not photograph at Zabriskie Point on this trip – been there, done that – unless the conditions were really special. But I miscalculated my morning start on this day and discovered that I wasn’t going to make it to my intended destination in time. As I passed Zabriskie on my way to the “other place,” telling myself that I still had a half hour before I needed to be in place for the early light… I noticed that clouds above this area were already starting to pick up the pink color of dawn light. I hesitated for a moment – I really wanted to photograph that other subject – but quickly realized that it would make a lot more sense to the shoot the subject that was here in the light that was developing than to drive further and miss out entirely on the first light.

So I turned into that familiar parking lot with its familiar fleet of photographers’ cars and quickly loaded up my gear. I was a bit surprised that I saw so few people up above at the official overlook, but it was quite windy and I figured that perhaps they had just dropped down on the other side of the wall below this spot. In any case, I had a different spot in mind, one further to the right, so I headed over that way and quickly discovered that the wind was blowing almost too strongly to make photographs. I made a couple of shots from a small gap there and then headed up toward the overlook. At the top of the little trail from the parking lot I dropped onto the small use trail to the side of the wall and was again surprised to see almost no other photographers. I walked a few feet farther and discovered that the “usual crowd” was huddled in a small area in the lee of the wall, trying desperately to find protection from the wind.

These days, my main project when I stop at Zabriskie is to find and photograph small, isolated elements of the landscape with a long lens. For the most part – unless truly magical conditions are present, and they weren’t on this morning – I don’t really spend much time on the classic views of Gower Gulch, the Valley, and the Panamint Range. However, since I’m there and know the progression of the light fairly well at this point, I’m not about to pass up the opportunity to get a better image of one of these iconic subjects. So as the first light was about to hit the summit of Manly Beacon I turned my rig that direction and spent a couple of minutes photographing it as the line between shadow and morning light traveled down its face.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Red Cliffs, Dawn

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Red Cliffs, Dawn
Red Cliffs, Dawn

The Red Cliffs (also called the “Red Cathedral”) are close to the famous spire of Manly Beacon at Zabriskie Point, and off the right a bit from the typical vantage points. The light was quite special – at least when not blocked by the clouds! – on this morning. These interesting clouds against the pastel blue sky first caught my attention, and were actually my primary interest in making this photograph. While the early light was on the clouds, some soft light also filtered through low clouds to the east and created a subtle glow on the face of this feature.

The Red Cliffs are really an amazing feature, though are often overlooked in favor of the more prominent and iconic Manly Beacon. The cliffs can often can be difficult to photograph – at least for me! When more direct light hits them the large dynamic contrasts between the areas in the light and the much darker shadows are tricky to handle, so this cloud-softened light seemed like just the right thing.

And, yes, I was at Zabriskie Point. It is a long story, but I have mentioned before that I have a personal project to photograph things other than the iconic scenes of Zabriskie. (Which is not to say that I won’t point my camera at those while I’m there it it turns out to be worth it!)

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.