Category Archives: Photographs: Textures

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

Meltwater, Ice, and Cloud Reflections

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Meltwater, Ice, and Cloud Reflections
Meltwater, Ice, and Cloud Reflections

Meltwater, Ice, and Cloud Reflections. Yosemite National Park, California. June 29, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pools of water between sections of melting ice reflect evening clouds above Gaylor Lake, Yosemite National Park.

I continue to mine the vein of photographs from this early summer afternoon and evening visit to a lake not far from the Sierra crest at Tioga pass. In my defense I’ll point out that the conditions were variable and that I shot this subject in a number of different ways – close up views of ice and water, images that focus on the clouds, some that take in the more distant landscape of the surrounding ridges and peaks, others that focus on just the patterns of water and ice, and all shot as the light transitioned toward evening and was occasionally interrupted by clouds.

It is very unusual for me to get to visit a large lake with quite this combination of conditions. Sometimes in the early season I might encounter a lake that is still covered with ice, and later I often pass by lakes that are mostly clear but have snow banks and ice coming down to the shoreline. But in this case the lake was still covered completely in ice, but the ice was melting and creating pools of blue water on top of the remaining ice, and this water reflected the sky and passing clouds. I think the first things that might catch your attention in this photograph are the white areas of ice and the blue areas in between. But if you look a bit closer you see that the blue areas are anything but uniform. The shades of blue vary tremendously, sometimes approaching black in the shadows along the edges of the ice, spanning a range of shades in the open water, and then heading towards white in areas that reflect the clouds floating above the lake.

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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: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brick Wall with Windows and Doors, Artificial Light

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Brick Wall with Windows and Doors, Artificial Light
Brick Wall with Windows and Doors, Artificial Light

Brick Wall with Windows and Doors, Artificial Light. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. February 26, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall with windows and a door is illuminated by garish yellow artificial lighting at Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

During the final weekend of February I was able to join my friends from The Nocturnes for an “alumni” shoot at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard at Vallejo, California. I photograph at this location a few times every year – most often with The Nocturnes – and each time I go I find something new or else find a new way to photograph something familiar.

This wall is in a little side alley off or one of the main roads through the facility. Although it certainly doesn’t look like it in this photograph, this is a fairly dark area of the island where rows of large factory buildings (mostly abandoned) are lit, for the most part, by a few security lights. Standing there next to me as I made the photograph, this is not what you would have seen. At best, I could make out the shapes and arrangement of the windows and door, recognize that the wall was constructed of bricks, and notice that the light from nearby yellowish artificial lights was diffused and broken up by shining through intervening fences and other stuff.

But, for me at least, one of the goals of night photography is to see what cannot be seen with our own eyes. The whole idea of a “realism” in night photography seems almost crazy to me, at least when shooting such dark subjects as this one. “Reality” is an incredibly dark and dim and barely visible wall. What is more interesting to me is what the camera can see in the near dark. Here it reveals the intense yellow/orange color of the artificial lighting and the uneven patterns of light and shadow.

(It also occurred to me as I worked on this photograph that while I generally am somewhat conservative with color and saturation and all the rest in my photography of natural landscapes… the wild, garish, and intense color and light of this night photography may represent an opposite pole for me.)

More Night Photography

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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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Textures

Winter Willows, Cosumnes River

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Winter Willows, Cosumnes River
Winter Willows, Cosumnes River

Winter Willows, Cosumnes River. Central Valley, California. January 23, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare winter willow trees in swampy land near the shore of the Cosumnes River, Central Valley, California.

(Thanks to John and Tom for setting me straight about this “brush” – these are dormant willow trees. I have changed the title of the photograph accordingly!)

When I arrived at the Cosumnes Wildlife Preserve on this morning it was very, very foggy – which is fine by me, since I like the moody and mysterious possibilities that come with shooting in the fog. However, on most mornings the fog – even the persistent Central Valley tule fog – eventually thins out and the light starts to shine through. For me the short period when the sun first begins to force its way through the gloom is a special one. For a period (often a short period) the weak light begins to define and highlight textures and forms and warm things up, but the softness of the light still remains. An analogy that comes to mind is that short but wonderful period of the day when spring skiing that occurs between the frozen morning slopes and the afternoon slush – it is a moment that is worth some difficulty to find.

I had wandered about in the thicker fog for a couple of hours when the sun first began to appear. I was in what had seemed like a pretty gray and drab place on a levee next to a lower area filled with brush. Then, as the light increased, the green colors of the branches began to glow and the contrast began to increase.

(I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I have absolutely no idea what these plants are. They are growing in a low area next to the levee that appears to flood periodically. If any one knows… )

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Email
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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Textures

Aspen Color – Wall of Leaves

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Aspen Color - Wall of Leaves
Aspen Color - Wall of Leaves

Aspen Color – Wall of Leaves. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 2, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A nearly solid wall of brilliant fall aspen leaf color in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

This is going to be the first in a short series of “frame filled with foliage” photographs that I’ll post. Although I think they work best as prints – and fairly large ones at that – I’d like to share these since they are something a bit different that I’ve been working on.

Sometimes I’m just so impressed by the sheer density and complexity of the foliage that I’m tempted to just point that camera at them and click. It might look like that is what is going on here, but I am also trying (remember, “trying!”) to find some sort of pattern and form in these very complex textures. This photograph was made in a small aspen grove that was essentially at the color peak – only a very small number of partly green leaves remained, yet most of the transformed leaves were still on the tree. If you have chased aspen color, you know how difficult it can be to find the leaves at just this point!

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

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