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

Rope, Shadow

December 9, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shadows and a rope tied off on a concrete wall

This is a simple bit of minimalist street photography. I was walking along a San Francisco street late in the day, with low light slanting across the fronts of buildings from the left, when I saw this tie-off for a rope to a flag mounted higher up on this wall.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Marsh and Sky

December 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late autumn sky above a flooded marsh, Central Valley, California

A winter ritual begins each year about this time. In the late fall the migratory birds return to California’s Great Central Valley and a band of photographers of which I am a part also heads out to the valley. The primary draw is the birds — geese, ibises, cranes, herons, egrets, and more — which gather by the thousands in the wetlands. But the valley itself also has its attractions at this time of year. The tule fog that slows drivers and obscures the sun also makes the landscape quiet and mysterious. The flat terrain is open to the sky and the clouds of winter storms create an overhead landscape.

A few days ago I made my first trip of the season to the valley, joining a small group of friends for a day of photography. We spent the first few hours focused on the birds — mostly geese and cranes on this visit — and then paused in the late morning. It was during this midday pause that I stopped along the edge of one of the marshland ponds and made this photograph of the expansive cloud-filled sky reflected in the surface of the water.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Another Corner, Night

December 7, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A meeting place between planes of concrete, night

The historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, especially at night, is a visually compelling location with a lot of large eye-catching features. This include the towering ship yard structures near the dry dock, the tower of the old power station, the huge factory buildings, old officers’ housing, and the ships that are sometimes tied up here or in dry dock. It is easy to spend a lot of time photographing these subjects with wonderful results.

On this visit I was, at least initially, less interested in those things. Instead I slowed down and went looking for hidden surprises — textures, pools of light, juxtapositions, color, and quiet places. Before long I found myself in a small area near the front of a dark building where concrete formations were lit by security lights and by the glow from the town of Vallejo across the water, and I stopped here for almost an hour to quietly make quiet photographs.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

September Rain

December 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

September rain falls on a Yosemite backcountry lake

Autumn in the Sierra is time of wonderful transitions — it is my favorite time of year to be there. For the most part the weather is still beautiful, with warm days and pleasantly chilly evenings and early mornings. The light is special — it is hard to put my finger on the precise quality, but somehow it feels warmer and softer than in the summer. Meadows turn golden brown and many plants take on their autumn colors. It feels like everything is slowing.

There can also be storms. These are not the brief afternoon thunderstorms of summer. They are the first harbingers of winter — the large Pacific weather fronts that begin to push in and which will eventually bring winter snow. We had such a storm — though it was a gentle one — on our visit, and it rained off and on for the final two days of our stay. I made this photograph along the shoreline of “our” lake, with fall colors in the foreground and a passing shower in front of the distant peak.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Rope, Shadow

Marsh and Sky

Another Corner, Night

September Rain

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