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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Flowers

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Flowers
“Autumn Flowers” — Autumn flowers scattered across a Yosemite Valley meadow.

The fall colors brought me to Yosemite Valley for a few days at the end of October. But autumn there isn’t just abut those colors — everything about the place is different during this season. The Valley seems to slow down and mellow out, and I sense that winter is just around the corner, even on a warm, sunny day like this one.

There’s a lot going on in this photograph, and it was a challenge to incorporate all of these elements. Right in front of the camera we see the golden-brown meadow, dotted with white flowers . The forest begins beyond that, with deciduous trees close to the Merced River and then large groves of conifers. In the distance, we see several of the famous Yosemite Valley granite cliffs, with details muted by haze and bright late-afternoon sun.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Graffiti and Barred Window

Image Leave a comment
Graffiti and Barred Window
“Graffiti and Barred Window” — Colorful wall, window, and metal grate in Ghent’s “graffiti alley.”

An alley in Ghent, Belgium is called the “graffiti street” or the “graffiti alley.” (The latter is more apt, since it is a very narrow walkway.) The walls (and sometimes the pavement) are covered with a wild mix of tags, graffiti, and street art. New imagery is continuously added on top of the old, and the intersections of these old and new images can be fascinating.

I have mixed feelings about photographing graffiti and street art, at least when it isn’t just an unavoidable element of the scene or an embellishment on other subjects. But here, the individual work is subsumed by the sum of it all, and in ways that hardly could have been anticipated by those who produced the deeper layers.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Conservation/Environment, History, News, Photographers, Stories

The First Light Group, Through My Eyes

Image Leave a comment

I will have more to say about this video and its context in a later post (though see below for a bit more information), but I wanted to share this Scot Miller video about the band of photographers known informally as “The First Light Group” and my role in the group.

There’s a lot more to say about the First Light project, but for now here is a little background. In the early 2000s the group assembled, with support from the Yosemite Conservancy, and headed into the Sierra Nevada backcountry with a special mission: to place landscape photographers in the wilderness for extended periods of time to create photographs that embody the character of these remote places. Over a period of nearly two decades we photographed all over the range.

You can subscribe to Scot Miller’s YouTube channel, where you’ll find more First Light videos and plenty of other material from him.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Belgium, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire Interior

Image Leave a comment
Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire Interior
“Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire” — The interior of the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire, Brussels.

During our visit to Brussels near the beginning of June, we stayed near the old central part of the city, an area of remarkable architecture, many places to eat… and a whole lot of tourists. In many ways it was a good location — we could easily walk there from the train station, and food options were abundant. But eventually we decided to take a very long walk out of this area.

That eventually took us to quieter neighborhoods and districts and past the Eglise de Notre-Dame Des Victoire, a beautiful older church. Like so many similar European churches, it is architecturally impressive, and I enjoyed photographing it. The light is often beautiful — soft and diffused, with spots of color and direct light coming through stained glass windows.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.