Tag Archives: evening

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

West From The Panamints

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West From The Panamints
Early evening view looking west from ridge of the Panamint range, Death Valley National Park

West From The Panamints. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening view looking west from ridge of the Panamint range, Death Valley National Park

I made this photograph on the evening of my arrival in Death Valley. The drive is always a long one, taking most of the day when I come straight from the San Francisco Bay Area. This time I had started in the Carrizo Plains National Monument, where I had stopped overnight to join friends for some photography of this year’s extraordinary wildflower bloom. That meant that even though I had a slightly shorter drive I got a later start — I wasn’t about the leave the Carrizo without making some morning photographs, and then I explored a slower route through the Temblor Range on my way out to the Great Central Valley before continuing on to Death Valley.

My Death Valley plans were not set in stone, so when I arrived in the park I wasn’t quite sure where I would go the first night. I had some thoughts of heading out to a remote canyon area to camp, but given the late arrival I started to consider simply camping at Stovepipe Wells. When I got there and it looked like the wind might kick up a dust storm I changed my mind again and headed up into the Panamint Mountains. (Anyone who has endured a Stovepipe Wells dust storm will sympathize!) In any case, I set up a camp in the mountains and then headed out to this remote ridge top location, a place from which I have often photographed in the early morning. The haze was a bit thick looking to the east, but what a view there was to the west! In that direction the same haze glowed in the backlight of the evening sun with ridges receding into the distance and culminating at the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

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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Sunset, Carrizo Plain

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Sunset, Carrizo Plain
A sunset view down toward the edge of the Temblor Hills toward Carrizo Plain, lakes, and distant mountains

Sunset, Carrizo Plain. Carrizo Plain National Monument, California. April 2, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sunset view down toward the edge of the Temblor Hills toward Carrizo Plain, lakes, and distant mountains

This has been — and likely will continue to be — and exceptional spring for California wildflower color. After an extended and historic drought that lasted roughly five years, the rainy season now coming to an end has been record-setting in the opposite direction. We’ve had floods, washing out highways, remarkable snowfall, and as of this week the state produced an all-time record for seasonal precipitation in portions of the norther Sierra Nevada. The natural world seems to have come back to life again, and in places that have been arid for the past few years we are now seeing lush green spring growth and lots of wildflowers.

Many of us decided to visit some of the interior locations where the seasonal grasslands can produce impressive wildflower blooms. On my way to Death Valley during the first week of April I detoured to join friends who were already in the Carrizo Plains region, and I managed to do one evening and one morning of photography there. On the first evening we found a somewhat remote area in the hills alongside the plain where we could see some large fields of flowers above, and we headed up into the hills to photograph them. From this elevation the views of the Plain opened up, and I made this photograph during the final minutes before sunset.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

The Edge Of The Valley

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The Edge Of The Valley
Evening light on golden hills and a wash at the base of the Black Mountains

The Edge Of The Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on golden hills and a wash at the base of the Black Mountains

I often use a sort of scheduling strategy when photographing in Death Valley. I get up before dawn and start with some subject that works will in the first light, and then I work a second subject that is promising in somewhat later light. Following a midday break (spent in camp or perhaps traveling to a more distant location) I reverse course later in the day, starting with a subject that works in non-golden hour light and then moving to one that works well around sunset and beyond. If conditions are right, I may even add a night subject! The second morning subject and the first afternoon subject are often canyons of one sort or another, where the edge-of-the-day light can be too dim, but where later light from a higher sun can be wonderful.

I had begun this afternoon’s photography with such a subject, one of the canyons along the eastern side of the valley. In the 90 degree plus afternoon heat I loaded up my pack with camera gear and water and slowly wandered into a narrow canyon where there was beautiful shade and somewhat moderated temperatures. Eventually it was time to return from the canyon and I reversed course and emerged from the mouth of the canyon during golden hour. This time I didn’t even have to travel to the final location since I was already there! At the time I made this photograph the long shadow of the Panamint range had stretched almost all the way across the valley and would soon steal the light from these hills, but for a few moments the golden light produced lengthy shadows and a colorful glow on the hills and along the wash emerging from the canyon.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Hills, Edge of the Carrizo Plain

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Hills,Edge of the Carrizo Plain
Evening light on a stream bed dropping though Temblor Range hills toward the Carrizo Plain

Hills, Edge of the Carrizo Plain. Carrizo Plain National Monument, California. April 2, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on a stream bed dropping though Temblor Range hills toward the Carrizo Plain

On this early April day I drove south from the San Francisco Bay Area on highway 101, leaving that route and heading east near Paso Robles to travel through the impossibly green spring landscape of Central California hills. I wasn’t alone. This being a beautiful spring Sunday, many others were out here to look for spectacular wildflower displays. And here, as in many other similar California locations, we found what we were looking for.

I continued to the east, eventually arriving at this high plain, often a desolate place but for a few weeks in wet years a place full of growth and color. I met up with friends who were already camped there, and we soon headed out to look for places with special color. We followed a small gravel road up into the foothills of the Temblor Range — we parked where it ended, loaded up packs, and continued on up into the hills of foot, heading toward some extensive fields of colorful wildflowers. As we topped the first rise I paused an looked back down at the base of the hills where the gully of a small stream winds its way toward the plain.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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