Monthly Archives: April 2008

Photographs: Death Valley

Stovepipe Dunes and Funeral Mountains

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Stovepipe Dunes and Funeral Mountains

Stovepipe Dunes and Funeral Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the Stovepipe sand dunes in morning light with the Funeral Mountains in the distance. Death Valley National Park.

This is another of the “long lens landscapes” that I’ve been experimenting with recently – this one having been shot with a 400mm lens.

keywords: stovepipe, dunes, wells, funeral, mountains, morning, black and white, death valley, national park, shadow, angle, sand, desert, ridge, peak, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, california, usa

Site News

Next in the Queue

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Since I post a new photograph daily, some foresight and planning is required to keep the “tap turned on” at this site. Obviously, I have to do a lot of photography, both in the field and at the computer during the post-processing stage. In helps that I can queue up photographs ahead of time. During certain times of the year when I can’t get out as often I may may be posting as little as one week before the photographs appear. At other times I have a much larger line-up of photographs ready to go and “pre-posted” to appear later.

Right now is one those times when there are quite a few photographs in the queue – more than a month’s worth actually. Reasons include the fact that spring is an exceptionally photogenic time in my area, the fact that I’ve made several recent photographic trips, and the nature of the images that I’ve been doing recently.

This week the photographs from my early March visit to Death Valley came up in the queue, and there are quite a few others in that series coming up next. There is also a large series of spring wildflowers and related subjects that is in line after the DV photographs. This past weekend I spent a day photographing in Yosemite Valley – and those photos will come to the site in early June. (If you just can’t wait, many of the upcoming photos are already posted in my Gallery and in my Flickr stream.)

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

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Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

Death Valley from Aguereberry Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the early evening view of Death Valley from Aguereberry Point as the shadow of the Panamint Range begins to extend across the Valley.

Aguereberry Point provides an astonishing viewpoint over Death Valley and a 360 degree panorama that extends to the southern Sierra Nevada range.

keywords: death valley, national park, aguereberry, point, panamint, mountains, range, evening, shadows, panorama, landscape, scenic, travel, california, usa, stock, view, desert, ridge, peak

Photographs: Death Valley

Stovepipe Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and Morning Clouds

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Stovepipe Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and Morning Clouds

Stovepipe Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and Morning Clouds. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Stovepipe Wells Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and morning clouds, Death Valley National Park, California. After shooting early farther out in the dunes, I encountered this scene while starting my hike back to my car.

It is interesting to note the number of ways in which this photograph was the result of serendipity. First, I went to the back side of the dunes rather than the more typical sections. Second, I had pretty much finished my shooting (yeah, right!) and was heading back to the car. Third, I just happened to wander up on this particular dune – almost didn’t go there at all. Fourth, the light was nothing like this when I first saw it – this section was mostly in shadow. Fifth, those wonderful clouds that mirror the texture of the dune surface just happened to float into the scene as the light came across the top of the dune to illuminate this section of the sand.

(This photograph brings to mind an Ansel Adams quote: “Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” Adams also offer a critique of God: “Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships!” ;-)

keywords: Tucki, mountain, sky, clouds, stovepipe, wells, sand, dune, peak, desert, morning, ripples, death valley, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, black and white, stock