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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Hikers in the Badlands

May 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of hikers is dwarfed by arid badlands terrain near Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

In the midst of all the recent Death Valley photographs, with this photograph I reached back into the archives to pull up an older image that had not previously made it out of the collection of raw files. Various things impel me to dig back into the older photographs to see what I’ve missed, and in this case it was a random visit to my website that I noted in my server log — someone had linked in to a photograph of some photographers in Death Valley from this 2007 trip. When I saw that I thought to go back and look at that particular photograph and update it just a bit, and then I got side-tracked and wandered off into that raw file collection.

I recall this photograph rather clearly. For some reason I had stopped at Zabriskie point on a morning that I probably expected to produce an exceptional sunrise — at least that’s my guess based on the kind of clouds in the photograph. If I recall correctly, the morning did produce some interesting soft light, but not the stunner that I thought might happen. (I rarely stop at Zabriskie, but I make an exception if the conditions look like they might produce something unexpected — but you never know until you actually go there before dawn and see what happens.) I remember looking down toward Gower Gulch and the trail to Golden Canyon and spotting this string of five hikers. It isn’t that unusual to see people on this trail, but they stuck close together as the wound along its twisting route, and I thought that this might produce some interesting photographs and reveal the scale of this landscape.

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Photographs: Germany

Heiliggeistkirche Steeple, Altstadt-Heidelberg

May 5, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The old part of Heidelberg with the steeple of the Heiliggeistkirche.

The Heiliggeistekirche is a main landmark in Heidelberg — not as monumental as the old castle, but a central feature and visible from all around. Most often we approached the old town by walking over the hill on the Philosophenweg, an old footpath that follows the ridge parallel to the river, and then descending to cross the bridge. From this elevated perspective it is possible to see a lot of the town, from the waterfront to the castle to the hills that rise beyond.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: People, Photographs: Photographers

Two Photographers, Zabriskie Point

May 4, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two photographers sit behind a camera and tripod at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

In the midst of sharing many photographs from my most recent Death Valley visit near the end of March and the start of April this year, I happened to be looking at website logs when I saw a link to this photograph from way back in 2007. I hadn’t thought about it for a while, so it was fun to get the reminder — and to have an excuse to rework it just a little bit and share it once again.

I had ended up at Zabriskie on this early April morning, and it turned out to be a morning of lovely light, though nothing far out of the ordinary, as I recall. My recollection is that as I waited to see if something more interesting would happen I thought about switching my focus to the other people who were there, and I ended up photographing quite a few of them — solitary figures silhouetted on the ridge above me, rows of photographers lined up at the edge of the drop-off, and a few individuals and small groups here and there. These two people were part of a slightly larger group, and they also seemed to be awaiting the hoped-for special light. I was intrigued by their patience and by the way they leaned in towards one another, and by the visual contrast between her light-colored jacket and his much darker clothing. In order to let the focus be on them rather than on the landscape, I exposed to let the distant subjects become quite light and then decided to render the image in black and white.

Photographs: Germany

Steingasse, Altstadt-Heidelberg

May 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The narrow, cobblestone Steingasse in the old town section of Heidelberg, Germany

As many tourists probably do, we entered the old section of Heidelberg after crossing the bridge to the old gate, passing though it, and walking up this narrow, cobblestone street, lined with restaurants. We probably actually managed to pass a few of the restaurants without stopping… before we finally gave in and sat down to eat.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Hikers in the Badlands

Heiliggeistkirche Steeple, Altstadt-Heidelberg

Two Photographers, Zabriskie Point

Steingasse, Altstadt-Heidelberg

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