Tag Archives: zion

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

Autumn Detritus, Zion National Park

November 20, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Oak leaves and other autumn material on a rocky streambed in Zion National Park

This mixture of autumn debris was lying on a low shelf near the bottom of a narrow canyon wash in the high country of Zion National Park. We had descended into this wash to look for autumn colors, mostly the red maples and perhaps some cottonwood or box elder trees. It had not been long since the last rain, given the evidence of flow patterns in the sand and occasional wet spots in deeper sections.

The gambel oak trees are quickly becoming a favorite of mine in this area of the Southwest. They are found all over the place and vary from small, bush-like plants to decent sized trees. When fall comes they can put on a quite varied show. Some leaves simply turn the rich brown/tan that you see on some of the leaves in this photograph. Others turn yellow and some take on very bright red colors, especially when the light comes through the leaves from behind. (A photograph from a small canyon in Capitol Reef that I’ll post later shows a more gaudy side of these leaves.) Here the leaves had fallen onto a low sandstone bench just above the stream bed, and the reddish rocks compliment the other autumn colors of this intimate scene.

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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Clearing Storm, Morning Light

November 18, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Fog clearing from a Zion Canyon cliff face. — “Clearing Storm, Morning Light” — Clearing storm clouds and morning light on sandstone towers, Zion National Park

We arrived in Zion the previous day, driving through rain across lower Utah and upper Arizona, stopping to photograph here and there, including rain-soaked upper elevation areas of Zion. We arose early to catch one of the first shuttles into the canyon. The morning began with sun coming through breaks in the clearing clouds from the previous day’s rain. In my view, clouds in Zion canyon are not usually all that conducive to photography, since I tend to rely on the diffused midday light coming from open sky to light my subjects, which are often found in the shade. Clouds produce too much shade and move the color balance away from the warm tones of daylight and toward the dark, blue tones.

On the other hand, I love sunlight broken and muted by clouds, especially those that move and are a bit transparent. I love shooting in Yosemite Valley when winter storms or fog are swirling around the walls and spires, alternately revealing and hiding bits of the landscape. As we rode the shuttle into Zion Canyon, with a vague plan of heading toward the middle or upper part of the canyon, I looked up to see that same sort of effect high on the cliffs along the west side of lower Zion Canyon – early morning sun was shining through breaks in clouds that swirled around the upper cliffs, alternately revealing and concealing their form. Plans change, and we hopped off the shuttle. I put the long lens on the camera and spent a few minutes exploring this subject.

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.

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

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

Cracked Sandstone

November 13, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Large cracks in layers of sandstone, Zion National Park

On our way to Utah points further east in late October, we passed through Zion National Park and ended up spending the better part of a day photographing along the Mount Carmel Highway route through the park. There are any number of places here to park the car, get out, and walk down into the narrow washes and valleys or climb up to various prominences. On this day the prospect was even more interesting since autumn color had come to the high country – much more than in the more famous Zion Canyon – and the oak and red maple trees were showing brilliant and vivid colors.

At several points we decided to investigate small canyons that passed near the roadway, and several of them included short stretches that were very narrow. There is a lot of tortured looking geology in some of these places, the result of eroding and sculpting power of the sand and water and other processes. Here a large “chunk” of sandstone was leaning away from the creek and was cracking, both along the natural strata in the rock and perpendicular the layers. In these places it is often interesting to see how seemingly solid rock can take on the qualities of a plastic material that has been bent and carved.

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

Fractured Sandstone Detail

November 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Details of fractured sandstone rock, Zion National Park

On this day we had driven across a good chunk of Arizona and southern Utah while traveling from Moab towards Springdale and Zion – and it had rained, heavily at times and lightly most of the day. Back in Arizona many of the creeks and rivers had come back to life, and north of where we were it may have been snowing. By the time we reached Zion and headed across the Mount Carmel Highway on our way to Springdale, everything was quite wet.

Rain radically changes the appearance of this portion of the park. (In truth, it changes the appearance of many things, but that is a topic for another post!) There were puddles and rivulets everywhere, and those dry waterfalls that characterize this country were no longer dry. The clouds soften the light and fill in the shadows, and the moisture intensifies the colors, especially the red and pink colors of the sandstone. Shortly after entering the park we pulled over and spent some “quality time” exploring this change near a small valley that held pools and a little temporary creek, and I found this area of fractured sandstone.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: zion

Autumn Detritus, Zion National Park

Cracked Sandstone

Fractured Sandstone Detail

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