Category Archives: Photographs: Central California

Morning Light, Oaks and Grass. (color)

CaleroOakForestII2006|11|25: Morning Light, Oaks and Grass (color). Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © "copyright g dan mitchell". ("sales")    keywords: morning light oak trees grass calero park santa clara county california color photograph

Morning Light, Oaks and Grass (color). Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: This was taken from nearly the same spot as the black and white photo posted above. I was interested in the complexity of the textures of the oak trees and the grass, the backlight on the grass, and the line of three oak trees receding from the tree at the right.
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Mission Peak: Mount Diablo, Fog

DiabloMissionFog2006|09|02: Mount Diablo, Fog. Mission Peak, California. September, 2, 2006. © "copyright G Dan Mitchell". ("sales")    keywords: mount diablo mission peak fog bank high clouds blue sky san francisco bay area california color photograph

Mount Diablo, Fog. Mission Peak, California. September, 2, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: This September morning on the ridge near Mission Peak was astonishing, with deep blue sky filled with mares tail clouds and coastal fog filling the valleys below and Mt. Diablo and other peaks rising above the fog. I originally saw this as a black and white photo (and it is presented that way elsewhere on this site) but after someone aske be for a color print I went back and came up with this version.
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Mission Peak and Mount Diablo, Sunrise

MissionDiablo2006|11|23: Mission Peak and Mount Diablo, Sunrise. November 23, 2006. © "copyright g dan mitchell". ("sales")    keywords: mount diablo mission peak rocks fog sunrise dawn california color photograph

Mission Peak and Mount Diablo, Sunrise. November 23, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: A small group of Bay Area hikers responded to Tom Mangan’s (Two-Heel Drive) call for a Thanksgiving morning hike to the top of Mission Peak, and were surprisingly agreeable to my crazy suggestion that we start the hike at 5:30 a.m. so that we could be at the summit for the sunrise. We arrived, in cold and extremely windy conditions, just before the sun came up, and this photograph shows the very first light striking the summit rocks of Mission Peak and illuminating Mt. Diablo in the distance.
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Morning Light, Oaks and Grass

CaleroOakForest2006|11|25: Morning Light, Oaks and Grass. Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © "copyright g dan mitchell". ("sales")    keywords: oak trees grass calero park santa clara county california morning light november black and white photograph

Morning Light, Oaks and Grass. Calero Park, California. November 25, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)

The story: This is a black and white version of an image I later posted in color with a slightly wider crop. This is a tricky photograph – there is a lot of complex detail in the scene, so it doesn’t lend itself to focusing on a few bold formal elements – but that is part of what I like about it. I think it is true to the feeling of this late fall morning on a central California hillside as the sun begins to shine though the trees.
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