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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Mountains, Evening Light

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Lake, Mountains, Evening Light
Evening light over a small alpine lake and tall mountains deep in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, Sequoia National Park.

Lake, Mountains, Evening Light. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light over a small alpine lake and tall mountains deep in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, Sequoia National Park.

This photograph takes me way back, almost a decade ago, to a long Southern Sierra pack trip with a great group of fiends. We came in over a high Sierra crest pass, then a couple of days later crossed an even higher pass (that doesn’t cross the crest), and dropped into some of my favorite Sierra Nevada backcountry in a place where we walked for miles through broken and rocky terrain before finally descending to the first trees we had seen since early that morning. We camped, and the next day we headed further into the backcountry, to an area where far fewer backpackers are found.

I made this photograph in a truly magical place where we camped that night. It was one of the few spots I’ve been to in the range where I could almost imagine that I was camping in a spot that no one had previously visited. (I know better, but it was isolated enough to feel that way.) We saw no one other than the members of our own little group fo three that day, that night, and into the next morning. This evening photograph looks across a small alpine lake toward a towering and rugged range that is not, despite its appearance, the Sierra crest.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Balloon Vendor

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Balloon Vendor
A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

Balloon Vendor. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

There was a lot going on in the vicinity of this colorful little Manhattan scene. It was a few days after Christmas, during the period between then and New Year’s Day when it seems that tourists and other visitors take over the sidewalks and streets of New York City, at least in the most popular areas. This is one of those areas, right near Rockefeller Center. Basically, the sidewalks were packed with people and at times it was difficult to move forward.

Along this block there were many street vendors, selling the usual assortment of Manhattan items: cheap knock-off watches, umbrellas and warm hats, food, souvenir shirts, and balloons. The balloons, leaning into the passing crowd, were quite a colorful diversion. That aside, as I see the street vendors I always wonder who they are, how they make a living doing this, and what sort of lives they must lead… and how all of that fits together in a place like Manhattan.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains

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Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains
Brighltly colored dusk clouds above the snow-capped Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brighltly colored dusk clouds above the snow-capped Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

This year I made my first photography foray back to Death Valley in mid-January. From my perspective, the season for this place lasts from about November until the first few weeks of April in a typical year, the period when the temperatures range between cold-to-comfortable and not-quite-yet-unbearably hot. My favorite time to go is when it is still truly winter, and especially at times where few others are there. I timed this trip correctly for the winter weather, but I neglected to consider that my trip crossed into a three-day weekend — and there were crowds. It took me longer than expected to settle into a campsite, and by the time I was able to head out for photography it was later than I had planned.

I decided to head toward a nearby area that I now pretty well, saving more distant explorations for the following days. I went to an area where I had an unobstructed view of the Panamint Range (one of those place I would soon visit). In winter, these “desert mountains” are often quite wintry, and during this visit they were covered in snow. I made this photograph, with the mountains already becoming dark, as the last brilliant light colored the western sky.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Window

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Blue Window
A blue window and a reflective wall, Manhattan

Blue Window. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue window and a reflective wall, Manhattan

The circumstances of making this photograph are a bit… unusual. We had the opportunity to enter a building in Manhattan that probably not too many people visit. (I’ll keep the identity anonymous for now. Don’t worry, nothing conspiratorial or anything…) It is an old structure not too far from Grand Central Station. Of course, I had my camera with me, and I took the opportunity to photograph some of the classic architectural features inside. At one point I, uh, had to visit a “very small room” in the building for a moment. This very small room was illuminated by the quite blue light coming from outside. So, naturally, I had to make a photograph. Yes, I was the only person in “the very small room.”

There are lots of ways to look at a photograph like this one, and it could be “about” any of several things. It is about blue, transmitted through glass, reflected on walls, and fading from light to dark. It is about texture — of “obscured glass,” of painted wall, and of reflective tile. I enjoy defocusing from the literal scene and letting the the actual windows and their reflection combine into a larger shape, and create an imagined virtual object on the wall.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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