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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Abandoned Glove

Image January 18, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

From my point of view, this is one of those photographs that is about what it is and about what else it is. (Admittedly, it is also a photograph whose capture may have led a few people around me at the time to… wonder.) The objective facts are straightforward. I had paused at the curb to wait for a green crossing light. I looked down into the gutter and saw this scene, in particular the plastic white glove between the red and yellow spaces. I made a few exposures before continuing as the light turned green.

You can make what you want of such a photograph. It is partly a reflection on finding things of visual interest everywhere, even in gutters. In addition, perhaps you may see some interesting graphic, abstract quality to it that goes beyond the literal objects in the frame. If you look closely you can see a bit of a reflection. Beyond that… I’ll leave it to you.

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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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Snow Geese In Flight

Image January 17, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small group of snow geese in flight against an overcast winter sky,

Photographing winter birds, especially the larger migratory birds and those that flock together, is a special pleasure during this season. All up and down “my” west” coast birds arrive from very distant locations, many from the arctic, and reveal connections between far flung parts of the planet. I’ve photographed them from Southern California all the way up to Washington’s Skagit Valley.

In one way photographing a set of birds like this is a simple thing: just be there with a camera and be ready to photograph when they appear nearby. But the truth is more complicated. Groups of birds in flight are complicated things. Often they are headed the wrong direction, their positions obstruct one another’s heads, foreground stuff gets in the way, the light of the sky overwhelms the scene, and they move fast! This photograph manages to avoid many of those pitfalls — each bird’s head is visible, their arrangement seems interesting and appealing, and the muted light lets us see details.

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: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Smoke Shop

Image January 16, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Something a bit unusual happened regarding this photograph. I originally posted “it” a couple of week ago, but in a version that used a”portrait” mode aspect ratio. In my initial way of seeing the photograph, that is what I had in mind, partly because I wanted the figure to look very small by comparison to other features and partly because there was something in the upper part of the frame that I thought I wanted to include. But literally within minutes of sharing the image I reconsidered and began to feel that a square crop would be more effective. It allows the figure to be a bit larger, removes an unnecessary distraction that dominated the upper frame, and generally seems to produce a more effective composition.

These things happen! And because one of my reasons for sharing daily photographs is to reveal the ongoing “practice” of making my photographs, I am willing to be a bit open about my thinking and its evolution. First choices are often good choices… except when they aren’t. The particular trap I originally fell into is one that I’m usually on guard against, namely getting so attached to some marginal element of a photograph (in this case it was a sign in the upper portion of the frame) that I failed to see past it and recognize that the image would be stronger by removing that secondary subject.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrian, Painted Wall

Image January 15, 2020 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pedestrain walks past designs painted on a brick wall, Manhattan

Photographing street art almost always raised an ethical question or two for me. At one end of the spectrum, when photographing what might be regarded as graphic vandalism I wonder if I’m contributing to defacement by potentially sharing it. Sometimes I forego the shot and on one or two occasions I have intentionally altered “tags” in post so that they are no longer recognizable. (Most often I leave them as they are.) At the other ends of this spectrum lies what I refer to as “street art” — work that stands on its own merits as a completed concept. At times it seems a bit strange to be making photographs of someone else’s art, yet these pieces figure in a few of my favorite photographs, just as my “je sui bleu” photograph from Paris.

This bright and colorful display, contrasting with the rather gritty Manhattan surroundings, fit into the second category. It is visually interesting on its own, but just photographing someone else’s visually interesting creation seems like a less than creative act. So here, as in some other photographs of mine, I treat it as part background and part subject. It becomes, in my view, part of a visual geometry in the scene and also one element of a set of contrasting components. It also becomes the stage for passing pedestrians, such as the fellow in this image. (I have one other photograph of this scene, but with a small group of passers-by. That one may also eventually see the light of day.)