Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dune Forms, Evening

January 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Shadows from evening light slanting across curved dune forms, Death Valley National Park

Having photographed here many times, I know these and other dunes of Death Valley fairly well – well enough at this point to have some ideas about where and when to photograph them and to be less interested in the more familiar views. I had spent the majority of the day, starting well before sunrise, exploring and photographing an entirely different area of the park, but as I did so I had formed a general plan to head to the dunes at the end of the day and photograph them in evening light. I had a bit of time after finishing with the first subject, so I headed back to camp to hang out a bit.

I may have hung out just a bit too long! My plans for the dunes were not exactly fixed, though I knew that I wanted to investigate a less visited area of lower dunes away from the main area and that I wanted to be out there shortly before sunset – to shoot the sunset light and then to continue shooting right on past sunset and into the beautiful and subtle dusk light. By the time I got to the dunes, I figured out that the winter sun sets a bit earlier than I had realized, and I had to hurry out to my shooting area. Although I did not have a specific idea of what I would shoot, I had some general ideas involving slanting light, shadows, curving shapes, texture of sand, and possibly some vegetation. But once on the scene I had to work extremely quickly, as the long shadows of the low angle sun moved quickly across the sand, and a new composite of light and shadow would appear only to move and then disappear in a matter of seconds or perhaps a minute or two. Within moments of making this photograph, the last warm sun on the dunes was gone, and I was left with the cold post-sunset light.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Graffiti on the Roof

January 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Grafitti on urban roofs beyond cyclone fence near the Manhattan Bridge, New York City

This is another photograph from our “hiking day” in New York City during our December 2013 visit. It wasn’t quite our plan when the day started, but we ended up walking from our Canal Street Hotel down to the Brooklyn Bridge and across, then around the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, and back across the Manhattan Bridge to the city again. The two bridges are a study in contrasts. Brooklyn Bridge is, of course, a huge tourist destination and walking across it is almost a requirement for New York visitors and others. Even on this very cold – sub freezing – winter day there were thousands of people crossing. The Manhattan Bridge, on the other hand, is a rather lonely place for pedestrians. we had been warned that it is tremendously noisy, since above ground transit trains cross it only feet from the narrow pedestrian walkway.

Probably because it has not been spiffed up to be a tourist attraction, the Manhattan Bridge also has a lot more aesthetic rough edges. The bridge structure seems mostly to be utilitarian steel, trains run constantly and not far from the walkway, and especially at the Manhattan end the bridge passes above some neighborhoods that don’t appear to be exactly upper class. Looking down from the bridge I saw some of the most extensive graffiti I have seen… on the roofs of buildings, where it is only visible from the bridge and not at all from the streets below. Most of the time I make it a rule to not photograph graffiti, but here it was so extensive and so established that it seemed worth it to make a few photographs through the cyclone fence protecting the bridge walkway.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Desert Sunrise, Trailer Reflection

January 18, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Desert sunrise reflected on the surface of a metal trailer, Death Valley National Park

On my final day in Death Valley this past December I rose early to go re-photograph a location that I had shot much earlier in the week… and fouled up some exposures when I failed to pay attention to camera settings. Yes, it happens! I had a long homeward drive ahead of me on this day, but I knew that I had enough time to get back to this spot and make amends before leaving. Fortunately, the location in question was not terribly far from where I was camped, and instead of what can sometimes be a half hour, one, or longer drive to sunrise location… this time it was maybe 10 minutes. So I got to sleep in… until there was actually a tiny bit of light in the sky! I awoke, dressed in the tent, and went to my car to drive to my destination as the light was beginning to glow in the east.

As I left the campground I was already in “photographer mode,” but probably mostly so that I could anticipate what light conditions I might be working with a bit later – but I was focused enough to catch a quick glimpse of this interesting reflection on the side of a metal walled travel trailer along the route out of the campground. It may sound odd, but the shiny metal surfaces, the ambient blue pre-sunrise light, and the reflections of a few reddish clouds along the eastern skyline caught my attention. I stopped. I backed up. I opened the window of my car. I made a few photographs of the trailer, which most likely contained sleeping campers who would miss this lovely sunrise.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan

January 17, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Brooklyn Bridge and buildings of Lower Manhattan, New York

Like many of my stories, this one involves a very long hike, challenging weather, two river crossings, a landscape of beautiful light and evocative atmosphere… and New York City? Indeed. It did not quite register with me that on this day we walked from our Canal Street hotel, across the Brooklyn Bridge (in sub-freezing temperatures), around areas of Brooklyn, and then back across the Manhattan Bridge to Canal Street and back to our hotel. The whole thing evolved organically, and we did not originally intend to do so much walking. There are days when I walk less than that during back-country Sierra Nevada trips!

We were meeting people from Brooklyn, but we figured that after a morning walk in Lower Manhattan that we would likely either meet them on the Manhattan side or take the subway over to Brooklyn – but when we found ourselves near the bridge we decided to walk across, and we met them mid-span. The very cold air was also blue-gray with haze, so I think I was in black and white mode as we walked across, thinking about how to use the haze. We arrived in Brooklyn, and eventually ended up in roughly the DUMBO (look it up!) area, where we ate, shopped a bit, and wandered. From there we decided to walk back to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge. If you have walked the Brooklyn Bridge – and who hasn’t? – I recommend this alternative for a more “real” and a bit earthier view of things. In contrast to the typical mob scene on the Brooklyn Bridge, there was almost no one else walking the Manhattan – perhaps because it also carries very loud subway trains, has a much narrower walkway, and starts and ends in somewhat less well-known areas. But the view of the Manhattan Bridge, East River, and Lower Manhattan from this bridge is, I think, better than that from the Brooklyn Bridge. In this photograph the afternoon light was essentially back-lighting the tall buildings and the Brooklyn Bridge, and clouds gave some texture to the sky.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Dune Forms, Evening

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Graffiti on the Roof

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Desert Sunrise, Trailer Reflection

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Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan

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

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