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: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline and Reflected Ridge

Image February 3, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

If you are a Sierra Nevada backcountry traveler, you recognize this a a classic Range of Light scene. It was early morning, and I had been photographing since before sunrise. I walked the shoreline of this subalpine lake, following terrain like that in this photograph. The sun’s light angled across the high peaks and talus slopes as it rose above ridges to the east.

When I first backpacked many years ago, I was astonished by the mere existence of such places and the idea that I could wander through them. Eventually I slowed down and no longer thought of scenes like this as just staging for the higher peaks, but as important places on their own. These days I’m happy to linger with my camera gear, often pausing just to look.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Telescope Peak, Lake Manly

Image February 2, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph incorporates at least two elements that might surprise people unfamiliar with Death Valley National Park — a large lake and snow-dusted mountain peaks. Telescope Peak, the highest point on the Panamint Range summit ridge, rises just above 11,000′, putting its summit in the alpine zone. It is normal to see snow there during the winter months.

Lake Manly, the body of water reflecting the mountains, is a different matter. Its appearance is somewhat rare, occurring only in years of exceptional rainfall. Although this is now a dry winter in California, a big storm a year ago primed the pump, a monumental November storm re-formed the lake, and there was another storm around Christmas Eve Day. The broad but shallow lake forms on the playa of Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the continental United States.

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Photographs: Belgium, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brussels Wall Detail

Image February 1, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a small section of a wall in Brussels, Belgium. We passed it while out on a very long (almost all day) walk through the city. I’m fascinated by walls like this one, where layers of personal messages and markings have built up over time, juxtaposed in sometimes-surprising ways to produce a kind of found art.

These things often consist of some combination of actual “art” (often small, personal drawings), bits of text including tags and quotes, random smears of paint, remnants of paper fliers in the process of weathering and falling off. They become short-term time capsules as layers build up, with the newest material on top and the oldest visible through the newer materials in places.

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

Trees and Sandstone Cliffs

Image January 31, 2026 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

There is a lot going on here related to textures and colors. Color first: the cliff and tree colors are almost complementary. The green trees at the base of the cliff are in full shade. The further cliff face is getting both direct and reflected light. The cliffs seem massive and solid, but the surfaces are surprisingly varied. We see lighter and redder sections contrasting with almost-blue darker areas.

I was a little surprised to see trees growing so close to the base of he cliff. Often these areas are littered with accumulated rockfall debris, but here the trees don’t show any signs of that. It isn’t easy to tell from the photograph, but some of the trees are actually growing from cracks in the rock wall.