Category Archives: Commentary

Commentary, Locations

Best time to visit Death Valley AND Yosemite?

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I just saw and replied to a forum post asking about the best time to try to visit Death Valley, the eastern Sierra, Tioga Pass/Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley in one trip that starts in Las Vegas and ends in Sacramento. I’m reposting my reply here since I’ve heard others ask similar questions elsewhere. Note that despite the lengthy post, this doesn’t by any means completely answer this question. So, with minor edits, here is what I posted:

When to do a trip that includes Death Valley and Yosemite Valley and everything in between? This is a very tough question.

The “best” time to visit Death Valley is generally thought to be in the November to early April time frame – but that coincides with closure of the Tioga Pass entrance into  Yosemite National Park, typically lasting from possibly (but not always) late October or mid-November until (usually) sometime in May.

So, I think it becomes a question of which end of the trip you want to compromise. Do you want to deal with Death Valley during the very hottest time or do you want to deal with the potential for a very long drive around the southern part of the Sierra (and missing the “east side”) in order to get to The Valley after the pass closes?

I travel and photograph throughout this area a lot, so let me offer some ideas. Continue reading Best time to visit Death Valley AND Yosemite? →

Commentary, Technique

How to photograph… baseball?

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OK, I know that seems like a very odd post title for this blog! (Though I do photograph certain sports from time to time and I always carry my camera when I go to Giants games – come to think of it, sometimes the photography is more interesting than the game. But I digress…)

I mention all of this because I just read through a very informative post at the Digital Photography School blog. The post (“How to Photography Baseball”) by Darren Rouse contains almost more information than I can absorb – well worth bookmarking if you think you’ll be doing this sort of thing.

Commentary, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

San Francisco Muni, Evening

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San Francisco Muni, Evening

San Francisco Muni, Evening. San Francisco, California. May 15, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A municipal railway train passes in front of AT&T Park in the early evening, San Francisco.

This is another of my “urban landscape” photographs, this time of a passing San Francisco MUNI trail passing in front of AT&T park in the waning light during a Giants game. As I wrote yesterday, I always take my camera to the games since this ballpark provides compelling opportunities to photograph not only “ball game stuff,” but also urban landscape elements of the SF Bay Area ranging from the Bay itself to views of the downtown San Francisco skyline to more intimate views. (The equivalent of street photography should also be do-able but I haven’t yet had the chance to go in that direction during the games.)

This photo appealed to me as a composition of several elements. Obviously the contrast between the warm interior light of the rail cars and everything else is one element, but another is the fellow behind the window in the left center. (In some way this brings to mind for me one of the famous Edward Hopper paintings of the coffee shop…) I like the curved arrow at lower right pointing toward the train and the counterbalancing curved shape of the bit of rooftop at the upper left – with all of this built around the diagonals of the train, the sidewalk and road, and the overhead wire – somewhat interrupted by a few verticals.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Commentary, News, Photographers, Workshops

News From Charles Cramer

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I got an email from Charles Cramer last week, meant to pass some of his news along right away, and then became very busy and forgot. (My excuse is a combination of having a ton of papers to grade and about 40 prints to make!) Anyway, better late than never…

The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley is having a show of Charlie’s work through May 27th. You can see some examples of his work from the show here. (I’m fond of most all of his photographs, but the luminous photograph of an aspen grove found in this series is one of my favorites.) If you are in the Valley during the next week and a half, be sure to stop by the Gallery and linger for a while  – if nothing else it sounds like a great way to spend some time during the midday non-shooting interval! (It would certainly be more edifying than what I usually do in the middle of my epic One-Day Bay Area to Yosemite and Back marathons: nap for an hour in my car!)

Charlie does workshops. He reports that almost all of them are currently sold out, but that are still some openings for a workshop in Santa Clara, California on June 26-28. Highly recommended – more information online. I’ve been fortunate to have Charlie share some of his vast knowledge of photography and printing with me, and I know personally how well he explains important concepts and techniques and how insightful he is when it comes to seeing and critiquing your photographs. He also has a great – though slightly twisted – sense of humor as well. If you have a chance to read his Photoshop Techniques booklet, you know what I mean.