G Dan Mitchell Photography

“Boardwalk, Morning” — The winding boardwalk at Salt Creek in morning light, Death Valley.

We arrived at Salt Creek before sunrise, planning to walk down to the end of the boardwalk and photograph some further areas at dawn. It used to be that you could continue on from there and investigate other interesting terrain, but there is now no obvious way off the boardwalk, lik...

“Lake Manly and Telescope Peak, Dawn” — Dawn light on Telescope Peak above Hanaupah Canyon and the reflective waters of Lake Manly.

This photograph includes a short list of superlative features. Telescope Peak, at just over 11,000′, is the highest point in Death Valley National park. From the peak one can see the highest point in California ,Mt. Whitney (in the Sierra Nev...

“Windows and Yellow Wall, Pena Palace” — Pena Palace windows and yellow walls on a rainy day, Portugal.

The Pena Palace sits on the summit of a ridge above the town of Sintra, a short train ride from Lisbon. From a distance the place seems unreal, given its location, its architecture, and its striking color scheme. Up close the weathering changes the effect a bit, but in ...

“Stream and Sandstone Cliff” — Sandstone cliffs at the bend in the canyon of a remote Utah river.

This is a photograph from over a decade ago. (More on how it ended up here today below.) A small group of us spent time photographing in Utah, often in remote places. One day we dropped into a canyon and followed this stream. As so often happens in these narrow, winding canyo...

“Fractured Surface” — Fractured dry mud, Death Valley.

Yes, more dried mud! As I have written before, for reasons that still mystify me, this is an irresistible subject for many landscape photographers… and I’m no exception. What explains it? The colors? The contrast with surroundings? The fractal shapes?

This example comes from a very small “mini-playa” amo...