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.

Box Elder with Sparse Leaves

Box Elder with Sparse Leaves
Box Elder with Sparse Leaves

Box Elder with Sparse Leaves. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. October 24, 2012. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The last autumn leaves on a box elder tree against a dark wall of Escalante Canyon, Utah

On a very cold and somewhat cloudy day in late October we explored portions of the Escalante River in Utah. This was a tough day for shooting! Not only was it cold – it was trying to snow by the end of the day – but it was also very windy, making photography of cottonwood and box elder trees and other vegetation a real challenge.

In places the river twists and turns, first going one way and permitting sun down to the river, then abruptly turning in a share s-curve and heading back the other direction. Then, as they say, “lather, rinse, repeat.” The back and forth winding course of the river continues. As we passed through one of the sharp bends, beneath very tall cliffs and in deep shade, we had to wade across the river as it flowed next to this sandstone wall. Tucked up against the wall and growing from rocky ledges were several trees, including this one that still retained just a few autumn leaves.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

June 2013 Camera/Lens Bundles from Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm

This must be the season for camera/lens bundles. B&H currently has them for cameras from three companies: Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm. All three promotions let you combine camera bodies and lenses for additional savings. The Nikon and Canon offers include many of the usual DSLR bodies, lenses, and more. The Fujifilm promotion includes several of the X-Trans mirrorless rangefinder style bodies – X-E1, X-Pro 1 – alone and combination with various lenses.

Please visit the DEALS page for details.

© Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

My Kitchen Window

My Kitchen Window
My Kitchen Window

My Kitchen Window. San Francisco Bay Area, California. March 16, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The view through blinds hanging outside my kitchen window.

Yup. My kitchen window. Why, you might wonder, did I make this photograph? I think there might be three reasons.

First, I’ve often said that I believe that I can find something to photograph within a few feet of anyplace I might find myself. A few photographer friends could tell you stories about me shooting from basically one spot for, on occasion, hours. Right now I’m recalling a meeting with a friend in Death Valley. We went to photograph a beautiful canyon area that I had overlooked and which she wanted to show me. We set up to shoot – I was on top of a small rise. As she ran around discovering this and that and the other fascinating thing, I continued to shoot from my original spot, perhaps for as long as an hour. It’s not that I don’t like to move. I can hike as well as the next photographer. But sometimes I can find so much in a small area that I don’t want to move. And I sure didn’t have to move much at all for this shot. I didn’t even have to leave the house!

Second, and speaking of house, there is a bit of a tradition among some photographers of making photographs in their immediately living environment. Here I’m thinking of a post from, if I recall, Cole Weston that I saw recently in which he shared photographs from seemingly mundane places… including his house and maybe even his bedroom. I believe that Huntington Witherill made the initial photographs for many of his beautiful digital manipulations of flowers in a spot in his home. And on and on. So, what the heck, a shot from my home. (Compared to these other photographers, I have to admit that my “home-grown” photographs have a way to go!)

Third, I had a new camera and I was anxious to try it out. The camera is a bit of a departure from the gear I usually use. (Typically I shoot with a full-frame DSLR system.) Because of some situations in which I want to travel and shoot light and fast, I decided to pick up a Fujifilm X-E1 along with a small set of lenses. This is a small mirrorless “rangefinder style” camera with similarly small lenses. (You can read more about the camera and my initial impressions here: “Fujifilm X-E1: From DSLR to Mirrorless. Hint: I like it.”) So this was probably just about the first photograph I made with that camera.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Brick Wall, Pearl District

Brick Wall, Pearl District
Brick Wall, Pearl District

Brick Wall, Pearl District. Portland, Oregon. May 25, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall with green windows and a small garden in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon

This is another photograph from my recent trip to Portland, Oregon. As car-free (and almost carefree) visitors to the city, we did a lot of walking, wandering more than once a day up and down between portions of the Pearl District and the downtown area where we were staying. Since I was carrying a very small and light camera on this trip (my Fujifilm X-E1) I was able to do a lot of “casual” photography of various things we saw on these walks.

There is quite a variety of buildings in and around the Pearl District, including many brick buildings. (To this California near-native, that seems like a disaster waiting to happen, but I digress…) They range from rather old structures to newer architecture seemingly intended to capture that old Portland semi-industrial/working class look. The subject of this photograph is simply the back wall of a large apartment building that we walked past on a partly cloudy and intermittently showery afternoon.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.