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: Southern California

Sunset Watchers, Griffith Observatory

August 7, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Visitors to the Griffith Observatory watch the autumn sunset.

Before this trip to the Los Angeles area, where I’ve been many times over the years, I had never actually been to the iconic Griffith Observatory overlooking the LA basin. That should probably embarrass me at least a little bit as a near-native Californian — but, heck, I’ve been to Disneyland! ;-)

We were actually staying much further south, in the Mission Viejo area, but we decided to spend a day farther north in Los Angeles. We (well, OK, I) wanted to visit a particular photography museum, and we had a restaurant in mind for dinner. In the end, we found ourselves with a bit of extra time and someone picked the Observatory as a good place to spend it. I had not idea it was so popular, and when we got there we found huge crowds — perhaps because it was just about sunset, and there is hardly a better place to be at sunset than here. I made this photograph, shooting handheld in the evening light, and was fascinated by the dense crowd of people packed onto the terraces surrounding the building.

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

News, Shows

Five Prints in “The Great Certainty” — Current Show at The Ansel Adams Gallery

August 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

I am very grateful to The Ansel Adams Gallery for including five of my photographs in the exhibition that opened this week in Yosemite Valley: “The Great Certainty: Photographs Commemorating 100 Years of National Park Stewardship,” August 6 through September 10.

A great variety of photographers are represented in this exhibit, and I feel honored to be included among them and to count many of them as personal and professional models, mentors, and friends: Ansel Adams, William Neill, Charles Cramer, Keith Walklet, Michael Frye, Mark Citret, Bob Kolbrener, Scot Miller, Rex Naden, Charlotte Hamilton Gibb, Mike Reeves, Franka Mlikota Gabler, David Hoffman, Evan Russel.

Stop in for a visit if you are in Yosemite Valley!

Sandstorm, Dunes — Stong winds lift clouds of sand high into the air above desert sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Submerged Boulders, Lake, and Cliffs — “Submerged Boulders, Lake, and Cliff” — Sunlight illuminates submerged boulders near the cliff face along the High Sierra Trail – Sequoia National Park.

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants — Autumn plants and lichen lend color to basalt columns, Devils Postpile National Monument

Sunrise, Capitol Reef — Dawn clouds about the peaks of Capitol Reef National Park

Fractured Granite, Reflection, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks — “Fractured Granite, Reflection” — The base of a rugged granite wall reflected in the still surface of a sub-alpine Sierra Nevada lake

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.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Winter Surf, Mountains

August 6, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Powerful winter surf washes over rocks at Point Lobos.

I have gone to Point Lobos for decades, beginning when I was a child and my family would visit. I especially remember exploring the accessible tide pools. Today I especially like to go there on foggy days or in the winter, when the raw power of the Pacific Ocean is most visible, with winter storms churning up huge surf.

It was on such a day that I visited last January — in fact, reports of high surf were almost certainly what made me decide to visit that day. Because this coastline faces west, in the morning the coastal hills, being to the east, are often in shadow. To make this photograph I found an outcropping from which I could look back to the southwest toward the shore and juxtapose the rear of a huge wave washing over offshore rocks with the dark and ominous face of the mountains rising behind in shadow.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Tarns

August 5, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Alpine tarns at the base of talus slopes, Kings Canyon National Park

The meaning of the term “tarn” is somewhat varied. Two technical definitions I’ve heard include (rather precisely) a small lake in a depression scooped out by glacial action, or (more informally perhaps) simply any very small body of mountain water too small to qualify as a real lake. Yes, that’s pretty subjective! Aside from their tendency to produce mosquitos, I love tarns, and I especially love areas where they are embedded in a rocky landscape broken by small meadows and occasionally trees.

I photographed this spot with its tarns (or small lakes, if you prefer) in shaded, soft light. There was sun, but it was low enough in the sky that its direct light was blocked by a tremendous rocky ridge to our west. Down here at the base of the small valley where we camped, everything was quiet and soft, including the light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Sunset Watchers, Griffith Observatory

Five Prints in “The Great Certainty” — Current Show at The Ansel Adams Gallery

Winter Surf, Mountains

Alpine Tarns

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