Commentary, Deals and Sales, Site News

Web Site Updates for April 25, 2013

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I have a couple of brief site news updates this morning:

  • I have updated the site’s Deals page to include current Canon promotions on DSLRs, DSLR/lens bundles, lenses, and Speedlights.
  • Also on the Deals page, links to the Fujifilm X-E1 mirrorless camera and lenses – which I have been using and liking recently.
  • Nearly two weeks ago I experienced some serious technical problems with the site. The site was briefly unavailable and for nearly a week access was impaired. I have mostly fixed the problems – and site access speeds should now be better than they were before the problem occurred. However, one or two features are temporarily unavailable – including the sidebar list of photographers and galleries. I hope to bring those resources back online soon.

© Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Commentary

Desert Plants, Dunes, and Mountains in Late Afternoon Light

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Desert Plants, Dunes, and Mountains in Late Afternoon Light
Desert Plants, Dunes, and Mountains in Late Afternoon Light

Desert Plants, Dunes, and Mountains in Late Afternoon Light. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Arrow weed plants grow on the flats below transverse dunes, Kit Fox Hills, and peaks of the Amargosa Range, Death Valley National Park

For such a desolate spot, this area can be quite beautiful at the right time of day and in the right light. I had gone here to climb a nearby low hill, but found the plants leading off towards low dunes and then successfully rising hills distracted me for a moment from my initial goal. The late sunlight coming in at a low angle gave a warmth to the desert colors that is not usually seen during the midday hours.

The mountains across the valley are a frequent subject of mine, usually but not quite always late in the day when the western sun casts warm light on them near sunset and, even better, just after sunset when the glowing sky can cast soft blue or even purple light on the mountains. This range is a bit more complex than it might first seem. The rise seems to begin at low sand dunes that are out in the valley a ways from the actual mountains. Then a range of low hills crosses just above the valley floor – I’ve heard them called the Kit Fox Hills. Above these hills and a giant gravel fan, higher and more rugged mountains rise to the summit of the Amargosa Range.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Deals and Sales, Equipment

Fujifilm Mirrorless Cameras

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Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Camera

Last month I picked up a Fujifilm X-E1 and several Fujinon lenses for certain types of shooting where I need great image quality in small, light, portable equipment. This camera is a “rangefinder style” (though not literally a rangefinder) camera with an electronic viewfinder, and it evokes memories of classic rangefinder cameras by way of its small size, its overall design, and the relatively small lenses that it uses. I have had a chance to use it enough now to understand how it works and how well, and I’m very impressed with the camera and even more impressed with the Fujinon lenses and the image quality they can produce on this camera. Recently I posted a report on my initial experiences (“Fujifilm X-E1: From DSLR to Mirrorless“) and I will likely add a real review at some point.

In any case, I would like to share links to several of the Fujifilm cameras in this category, along with links to some of the Fujinon lenses, most of which I have now used. (The links go to site-sponsor B&H Photo.)

Bodies

Lenses

* I have used these lenses and am very impressed by their quality.
** The 55-200mm zoom has been announced but is not yet available. I intend to acquire it when it is available.

© Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | 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: Northern California

Redwood Forest Light

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Redwood Forest Light
Redwood Forest Light

Redwood Forest Light. Muir Woods National Monument, California. March 24, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Misty morning light shines through coast redwood forest, Northern California

On this late-March morning I headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge, hoping to photograph the trillium bloom at Muir Woods National Monument. Every year this event seems to sneak up on me, and I often just barely catch it before the bloom ends or even miss it. I had heard that the flowers were already in bloom a week earlier, so I wasn’t sure what I would find – but I did get the chance to photograph these flowers that seem to announce the arrival of spring in the redwood forest.

There is a particular trail at this National Monument where I usually go to find the trillium flowers. They seem to like the slightly more open light of this hillside trail, and as I ascend it I usually find quite a few of the flowers… if I arrive at the right time. Every so often I remind myself to look in the other direction, too, since there the hillside drops off steeply, running all the way down to the creek at the bottom of the canyon. The elevated perspective provides a somewhat unusual view into the forest. One challenge of shooting redwoods is that so often you are angling the camera/lens up, and consequently have to deal with various challenges including bright sky appearing in the scene and the effects of converging perspective line. But from this trail it is possible to point the camera horizontally and shoot right into the forest itself, far above the base of the trees down in the canyon below.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | 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.

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