Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Ridgeline, Trees, Winter Fog

June 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A winter fog obscures trees along a ridgeline high above Yosemite Valley

It may be surprising to hear that this is a color photograph. Well, the camera thought so, but you cannot easily tell by looking at the image. I was shooting another nearby subject, or perhaps waiting for that subject to some light that would make it more “photographable,” when I looked up to see this fog enveloping the high tree-covered ridges above this part of Yosemite Valley, with the atmosphere gently glowing in the backlight.

The photograph is a reminder for me that it is often better to see what you can make of the conditions you find than to lament that the conditions are not what you hoped for. (OK, you can go ahead a lament a little bit—i think that is normal!) While I often go to a place perhaps expecting or hoping for particular conditions, I’ve learned that quite often the most interesting opportunities are not those that we can predict but those that surprise us or those that we find. If the atmosphere of the place, apart from your initial notions of how it might be photographed, is something that attracts you, then it must be possible to make some kind of effective photograph of that thing that you like. You might be hoping for colorful sunset light, but you know—or at least I hope you do!—that a foggy evening, or a rainy evening, or even a hazy evening of soft light can be a wonderful thing, too.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

June 18, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Abandoned piers along the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay

I found this wonderful dilapidated and weathered structure while walking along a somewhat out-of-the-way section of the San Francisco Bay waterfront. Technically, it isn’t all that obscure, as there is a lot of new development going in not far from here, yet this specific spot and a few others in this area seem like they have not been touched in quite a while.

I’m a fan of photographing the Bay Shoreline early in the morning, when I can shoot into the rising sun, often with backlit fog and morning haze and occasionally with distant objects on the bay or along its far shore making faint appearances in the photograph. In this shot there are several very large tankers anchored far out in the bay along the horizon line, and beyond that the thinning fog still sits over the east bay shoreline. There are other surprises in this photograph, too. Among them are the odd lawn chair sitting precariously on the wreck of this old pier. Also in the frame are a nearly submerged collapsed pier a bit further off, a small row boat with several people in it, and one of the ship yard cranes that are found along the waterfront.

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

Man at Crosswalk

June 16, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man at a crosswalk extends his arms as a bus passes

On Friday the 13th I spent part of my morning walking around and photographing in San Francisco, starting very early at about 7:00 AM, and making a large loop that eventually took me back to the Caltrain station and out of the city before noon. This photograph was a quick shot at a corner along Market Street.

I do this kind of shooting for may reasons, among them being simply that I’m interested in more than just “nature” photography and I am fascinated by the urban landscape, too. (There’s also a deeper philosophical question about just where boundaries between “natural” and “not natural” actually do and do not lie.) When it comes to the process of how I photograph, this work also provides a sometimes-welcome contrast. Most of the work shared here is created by going out with some amount of equipment that typically includes lenses, camera, tripod, and more and then finding more or less static locations from which to shoot. On the other hand, photography like that which I did on this day is more dynamic and fluid. I work with a small handheld camera, carrying only a rather small messenger bag with two more small lenses, and keeping the camera out and ready to shoot in an instant. Sometimes I may work a subject more slowly, but I also sometimes simply raise the camera quickly and almost without conscious thought and make an exposure. In fact, in some situations like this one, that is the only option. There was almost no time to think at all in this case. Without warning I found myself standing behind this fellow who spontaneously put his arms out, in a gesture that is open to many interpretations. The camera was in my hand, I quickly raised it and shot without looking through the viewfinder, making perhaps three quick exposures, one of which included the blurred shape of the bus beyond him, without which this would have been a very different photograph.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Shoreline, Abandoned Dock, Morning

June 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An abandoned dock stands along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay in morning light

Things have been very busy recently, limiting my time to go out and shoot. For some time I’ve been looking forward to another of my periodic “personal photo walks” in San Francisco, and I finally had the chance today. My routine is to get up very early and catch a Caltrain to the City, arriving there no later than 7:00 AM. This is a bit before the crowds arrive, and early enough that there is still a lot of good light around. The good light is especially likely long the San Francisco Bay waterfront, where it shine toward the City from across the bay, often through mist or fog and always reflecting on the water.

This time I explored around the fringes of the Mission Bay area. This was formerly a pretty run down location, with lots of empty lots and some abandoned structures. However, recent urban development has come, and many of the formerly empty areas are now construction sites or the sites of very new and recently occupied buildings. I walked past these and looped over towards the waterfront, where some areas are surprisingly “unimproved,” at least so far. Here I found the remnants of several old piers that have been left to decay and gradually tumble into the bay. In this photograph I shot straight into the morning sun, silhouetting the rotting wood, and composing the scene to include a bit of a working pier to the left and a couple of tankers anchored out in the bay beneath the thinning fog bank.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Ridgeline, Trees, Winter Fog

Abandoned Piers, San Francisco

Man at Crosswalk

Shoreline, Abandoned Dock, Morning

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