All posts by G Dan Mitchell

G Dan Mitchell, photographer and visual opportunist focusing on the Pacific coast, the Sierra Nevada, redwood forests, California oak/grasslands, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography and more. Posting daily photographs since 2005, along with articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Trees and Redrock Canyon, Autumn

July 14, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brilliantly colorful autumn cottonwood foliage winds down a Utah red rock canyon

After four days of photography and camping in the far reaches of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, I came out to civilization and spent a night at Boulder Mountain Lodge. (Not my usual thing, but I had an appointment to meet someone there — and it was quite a fine visit!) Arriving a bit early, I decided to head out on a nearby road just to see what I could see.

I knew this road a bit from traveling it in the past — I was looking forward to red rock cliffs and some cottonwood color. But I was not prepared for the intensity of the autumn cottonwoods in this little canyon. The effect was a combination of arriving at the peak moment of color for these trees, and the fact that the light was slightly softened by some high clouds. The result was one of those colorful scenes that you imagine but rarely actually find, with the tree winding down the canyon and around the far bend.

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

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Mirror in Mirror

July 13, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Reflecting surfaces of Chicago architecture

This is another of my architectural detail photographs from our summer 2014 visit to Chicago. We decided to cross the continent the old-fashioned, slow way — we took the train from the San Francisco Bay Area to New York City. The first leg was on the venerable California Zephyr to Chicago, and we decided to take a few extra days in Chicago before boarding the Lakeshore Limited (also apparently known as the Late Shore Limited…) to Manhattan. We stayed right in downtown Chicago, just a few blocks from Millennium Park, so there was plenty to see and do. One morning we took the architectural tour up the river, something that I had not done before.

I enjoy Chicago. Part of it appeals to my long-ago midwestern roots, I think. But it is also a cosmopolitan big city with a quality all its own. While the buildings are as huge as those of any other big city, the urban center sprawls in a way that is quite different from, say, New York City or from our familiar San Francisco. It seems like views of the architecture are a bit more opened and varied, and much more light seems to get down to street level. I’ve long been fascinated by close-in photographs of building details, especially when they include windows like these. When I look at them initially I see a big, sturdy building. But looking more closely I see that most of what I’m looking at is not-the-building, but instead is a series of reflections and reflections of reflections in the windows, and the whole structure starts to take on a more insubstantial quality.

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

Photographs: Wildlife

Tern in Flight

July 12, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A tern in flight over Monterey Bay in sunset light

I have had this photograph sitting here waiting to be posted for many weeks now, but somehow it got continually supplanted by other images. Time to get it posted! For one thing, it may be my only photograph of a at this point, and I want to have it in my online archive.

The photograph comes from a memorably evening nearly a year ago when we went to the Moss Landing area of Monterey Bay after hearing that friends had seen whales very close to the shoreline here. Although I have lived in this area for decades and I regularly pass by this area, I had never actually been out to the beach here. The first thing that surprised us when we arrived was the truly astonishing number of sea birds — I had never seen so many in one place before. I surmise that they must have been drawn here by the same fish or other food that drew the whales. With so many birds around I used the conditions to focus on various birds that were extremely close. Here the bird was a tern — not an easy bird to photograph in flight, and they don’t exactly fly in slow, straight lines. I also photographed a big group of pelicans that was settled in very close to the shoreline. And eventually the whales did show up, rising up out of the water a short distance from the beach.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Chicago

Less Than All There

July 11, 2015 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A downtown Chicago Building

Recently I have been revisiting some urban photography from nearly a year ago, when we spent time in Chicago and then in New York City. Expect a few more of these photographs over the next few days, a number of which may focus on small details of the urban landscape.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Cottonwood Trees and Redrock Canyon, Autumn

Mirror in Mirror

Tern in Flight

Less Than All There

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.