Creosote Plants, Morning Dunes. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Creosote plants scattered among sand dunes in early morning light
On our first full morning in Death Valley we decided to visit the dunes, skirting around the side to an area where no one else had gone yet, and arriving there just as the sun began to clear the eastern mountains. Because there had been a bit of a sand storm the previous day the dunes were in almost pristine condition, and the only foot prints were those left that morning by the two of us and the small number of other early morning visitors to the dunes.
The cycle of sunrise light was interesting. We began at our vehicle in dark, pre-sunrise conditions, but as we walked out across playa terrain toward the dunes the sun begin to light up the higher clouds. Then the light struck the summits of peaks to our west and begin to work down the mountains toward the valley, and before long we went quickly to work photographing the rapidly changing conditions as the first sunlight reached our location. Soon the changes slowed down again and the shadows started to fill with light reflected from the sky. I found some higher spots with views across the undulating dunes and made a series of photographs facing almost directly into the sun.
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 and Amazon.
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