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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Trees and Stone

March 23, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees, a boulder, cliffs and towers — Pinnacles National Park

Visiting Pinnacles National Monument last week presented me with an unusual experience. Typically I photograph in two kinds of places. To simplify a bit, one sort is the places that I have photographed repeatedly over long periods of time, and which I have gotten to know intimately. The other type would be places that I don’t know at all, and which I come to with an almost “blank slate,” discovering their character directly as I encounter them. “The Pinnacles,” as I’ve referred to the place for years, doesn’t quite fit into either category. When I was much younger I frequently visited the place, starting with my parents when I was quite young and continuing into my twenties when I was a rock climber. So some memories and sensations from the place a deeply embedded in my memory and experience. But they I stopped going there and has been decades since I was last there.

With that in mind, it is no surprise that my first visit included quite a few “I remember this!” moments, combined with about as many “This is new!” moments. We mostly visited the east side when I was young, but this time I arrived from the west. I had hiked the high peaks trail, and even climbed some of its pinnacles, but I was surprised to (re)discover just how narrow, steep and exposed it is. So my approach to the place was a combination of working with what I know and discovering what was new. In the end it felt like I was sort of “feeling my way” back into familiarity with the place. I could not yet quite see how to photograph some seemingly obvious subjects, such as the high peaks area, so I focused on many non-iconic subjects, such as the scene of gray and red rocks and trees in this photograph.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Flag Makers

March 22, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A complex landscape of steps, columns, braces, windows, reflections, and buildings

I made this photograph near the new, lower level entrance to the remodeled San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) during a visit around the start of the new year. The old entrance to the museum has now been augmented by a new entrance that leads into the newly added wing. A large installation fills the space on the very lowest level, and large windows open from there to the surrounding buildings and a stairway leading to the entrance one floor higher.

I love photographing in museums — for the architectural spaces and the people — and I photograph inside and around MOMA every time I visit. Some subjects are immediately obvious but other take a bit longer to figure out. This open area on the lower level is, for me, in the latter category. It immediately felt like a place to make photographs, but it has taken quite a few visits to begin to reveal its potential. This photograph is more or less a study of the many layers and angles found within and outside of this space, including layers of time between the very new museum and the very old brick wall just beyond the stairs.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Trees, Morning Light

March 21, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunlight illuminates trees on a spring morning at Pinnacles National Park

On this first return visit to Pinnacles National Park in about three decades — the last time I visited the place it was still called Pinnacles National Monument — I approached from the west through the small Salinas Valley town of Soledad, heading east into the low, grass-covered hills, ascending wooded valleys, and then passing through vineyard country where I had my first good views of the pinnacles. Until that point much of the drive did not bring back any memories, but that view was much as I remembered. I continued a bit further, passed the expected national park entrance sign, arrived at the kiosk, and went into the nearby ranger station to show my permit. This faculty seemed new to me, and it certainly had not been there years back when we simply drove up the end of the road and camped. This time I got back on the road and continued toward the end of the road.

One expects to simply ascend to the end of this road, but the route surprised me by descending into the valley where that old campground (now gone over twenty years) was once located. Along this descent the road passed by the beautiful California “impossible green” spring landscape of new grass, budding trees, and a few wildflowers. At one point the road turned to the right and descended, and in front of me was a high ridge with back-light flowing over its summit and striking the trees from behind. Those who know me know that I’m completely unable to resist back-lit trees, so I pulled over and paused to make a few photographs before continuing the short distance to the trailhead.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

D8 Crane, Night

March 20, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The D8 crane at night, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

As all who photographer there know, these huge crane are among the primary iconic elements of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. Their size makes them visible from many places including the opposite shore in the town of Vallejo across the harbor. Their appearance is striking, especially at night, when their organic forms are usually lit from below, especially now that they are once again in use as part of a project to dismantle the ships of the old “ghost fleet” that was long moored near the Carquinez Bridge.

Their reactivation has created some photographic opportunities that were rarely available when I first began photographing at Mare Island a dozen or more years ago. Back then the cranes, which can be moved around the dry docks along a system or railway tracks, were often parked in inaccessible locations and seldom well-lit. But on this visit we found two of them had been moved out from behind the security fences and along a closed roadway. We were able to photograph them close-up and from a range of positions and angles. Each has a sort of personality. The closest one is bright yellow in the artificial light, while the further crane has a dark and weathered appearance.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Trees and Stone

Flag Makers

Trees, Morning Light

D8 Crane, Night

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.