Brick Wall And Tree, Night

Brick Wall And Tree, Night. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. DescriptionNight photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall. Believe it or not, this emerged from a foray to make Christmas photographs. We made arrangements to visit a local place that has an old mansion, extensive grounds, and remarkable gardens, all decorated for the holiday season. We timed our visit for right around sunset so that we would have a variety of conditions for photographing Christmas lights and the background building and gardens. In fact, I did make some more traditional seasonal photographs — people illuminated by Christmas lights and similar. But then I saw this wall with the twisted and gnarled tree growing along its surface, illuminated by a few bare bulbs overhead — and I went into the more traditional night photographer mode. Photographing at night often profoundly transforms the mood of a subject, and that is certainly true in this case. In the daytime you might think of this as a lovely old, weathered wall with a tree. But to my eyes, at night it takes on a darker and possibly even ominous character. 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 | Facebook | Email Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.
Night photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall.

Brick Wall And Tree, Night. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of a gnarled tree growing up an old brick wall.

Believe it or not, this emerged from a foray to make Christmas photographs. We made arrangements to visit a local place that has an old mansion, extensive grounds, and remarkable gardens, all decorated for the holiday season. We timed our visit for right around sunset so that we would have a variety of conditions for photographing Christmas lights and the background building and gardens. In fact, I did make some more traditional seasonal photographs — people illuminated by Christmas lights and similar.

But then I saw this wall with the twisted and gnarled tree growing along its surface, illuminated by a few bare bulbs overhead — and I went into the more traditional night photographer mode. Photographing at night often profoundly transforms the mood of a subject, and that is certainly true in this case. In the daytime you might think of this as a lovely old, weathered wall with a tree. But to my eyes, at night it takes on a darker and possibly even ominous character.


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 | FacebookEmail

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.


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

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