Monthly Archives: October 2008

Commentary, Equipment

‘Low End’ Cameras – Interesting Choices

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An interesting juxtaposition caught my attention this morning.

Yesterday Michael Reichmann posted a very interesting article (“You’ve Got to Be Kidding“) in which he compares the image quality from the (arguably high end point and shoot) $500 Canon G10 with that obtained from his high end Hasselblad medium format digital system. While some are misrepresenting the point of his article to be that the G10 is equal to the Hassy MF system (it isn’t, and he didn’t write that), the significant point is that for many uses the G10 can produce good size prints (13″ x 19” in Reichmann’s article) that are largely indistinguishable from those that came from the MF camera.

At about the same time I saw a link to a dealmac.com posting about sub-$600 prices for the Canon XSi 12.2MP APS-C DSLR with the quite decent EFS 18-55mm image stabilized lens. Anyone who looks at the features of this camera objectively and knows about the generally quite good reviews of this lens understands that this is a tremendous value for a camera system that is more than capable enough for the vast majority of DSLR purchasers.

So, on one hand we have a small almost pocketable camera (the G10) that can produce excellent quality prints as large as most people will ever produce (much larger, in fact). If your point of comparison is DSLRs of a year or two ago – $1000+ in many cases – this is a quite amazing thing, and could induce many buyers to think about the G10 or a similar camera, either as the camera or as an adjunct when traveling light is important. But wait, the cost of a quite decent DSLR isn’t $1000+ any more – it now appears to be perhaps only $100 more than that of the G10.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

keywords: early, autumn, fall, snow, snowfall, squall, weather, cloud, sky, mountain, ridge, aspen, grove, tree, color, orange, yellow, gold, brush, bush, north lake, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock, meadow, grass

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Corral, McGee Canyon

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Corral, McGee Canyon

Corral, McGee Canyon. Sierra Nevada, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Stock corral in afternoon autumn light, McGee Canyon, Sierra Nevada.

After shooting for two days in the Bishop Creek area I headed down to Bishop for coffee and an internet connection, after which I began my long drive back to the Bay Area. Between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes I took the short lateral road up into McGee Canyon. After stopping at the road end I started back down, stopping along the road just below the stock corral to make this photograph of the fall colors in the canyon and the high peaks with a dusting of autumn snowfall beyond.

keywords: stock, corral, fence, ranch, mcgee, creek, canyon, mountain, valley, forest, grove, aspen, yellow, green, gold, ridge, snow, eastern, sierra, nevada, range, california, usa, fall, autumn, landscape, travel, scenic, alpine, sage, stock, fence

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Rocks and Reflections, Merced River

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Rocks and Reflections, Merced River

Rocks and Reflections, Merced River. Yosemite Valley, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocks and reflections from sunlit cliffs in the Merced River, Yosemite Valley, Callifornia.

This is a major re-working of a photograph I made last winter on a very cold morning in the Valley. I had been photographing nearer to the upper end of the Valley and as the sun rose higher I decided to head down toward Bridalveil fall to shoot in the border between sun and shadow. I was almost to Bridalveil and driving along a shaded section of the road (Southside Drive, which is normally not open to traffic headed this direction) when I saw an area of exposed rocks in a deeply shaded area with the surface of the river illuminated by the brilliant golden reflection from the fully sunlit cliffs above on the north side of the Valley. I found a marginal parking space alongside the road and set up with a long lens and looked for interesting compositions among the rocks.

There is a funny story to add to this. As I was shooting, as often happens when one sets up near a roadway with a "pro-looking" gear (hey, all it really seems to take is a tripod), other visitors began to pull over to see what the photographer was shooting, jumping out of their cars with cameras in hand. This in a very dark section of the canyon. With me using a very long lens. Pointed straight down at some boring rocks in the river. Waiting. For something. Quite a few of them just shook their heads, looked at me like I was nuts, got back in their cars, and drove on. :-)

keywords: California, Landscape, National Park, Place, Season, Travel, Winter, valley, merced, river, reflections, swirls, rocks, boulders, current, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, water, stock