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

Building 106, Night

May 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It has been a while since I have posted new night photography, much less work from this location. I’ve photograph this area extensively over a period of years, often working with my friends from The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. In fact, I was there with them once again on this mid-March night.

Atypically, some of us had begun the evening’s work by shooting in the daylight! Shortly before sunset someone came up with the novel idea, among night photographers anyway, of going out before it became dark to photograph in the golden hour light. So, I started early and gradually worked my way back to the familiar central core of old ship yard buildings. Some years ago when I first visited I was entranced by the most obvious subjects, mostly very large and impressive industrial structures. I still find them impressive and continue to photograph them, but as I returned many more times I began to push out the boundaries of what I know of the place. Eventually I looked for less obvious subjects, sometimes small and out-of-the-way things I had first overlooked, and I began to move beyond the familiar core area to look a bit more far afield. While the location in this photograph isn’t that far from where I started shooting, it is a bit less visited and it was probably the first time that I had explored this particular spot. I was first attracted by some nearby tall structures that look like they might be some sort of hoppers or collection equipment. Then I continued walking and turned up this side alley where nearby artificial lights illuminated the terribly weathered metal walls of old factory buildings, rising from the small one at right, past the taller building just beyond, and culminating that the much taller building near the upper portion of the frame, with its large pipe that must have carried smoke or gas away from its room.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

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

Dormant Oaks, Winter Mists

May 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Dormant oak trees silhouetted against winter morning mists and cliffs, Yosemite Valley, California

This is an alternate version of a photograph that I shared earlier. Back in February I was in Yosemite Valley briefly for the opening of the annual Yosemite Renaissance exhibition, and this gave me one day to photograph there in interesting conditions. While the most familiar images of the Valley for most people probably involve waterfalls and spring or summer sunshine on granite (with a few well-known exceptions!), my favorite conditions involve snow, clouds, mist, and perhaps even a bit of rain. All of those were present on this day!

I was up quite early, and since we stayed in the Valley it was only a matter of taking a short walk and I could begin shooting. For a place that can be impressively or even depressingly crowded at certain times of the year, it is possible to find near-solitude on a cold and wet winter morning just before dawn, even in places that would typically be quite crowded during popular times of the year. In fact, this photograph was made from a shuttle bus stop not far from Yosemite Falls! I had been photographing nearby meadows and trees when the mist turned to sprinkles and then to rain, and I went to the shuttle stop to find temporary cover under its roof – only to realize that some interesting shots might well be possible from under this shelter!

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: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cottonwood Tree, Sandstone Canyon Walls

May 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A cottonwood tree set against the afternoon colors of shaded sandstone walls of Zion Canyon, Utah

I photographed this tree, still too soon to have fall colors, in front of the huge sandstone cliffs above the Temple of Sinawava feature at the upper end of Zion Canyon in Zion National Park. These trees grow here along the banks of the Virgin River, which makes some rather abrupt twists and turns in this portion of the canyon and flows right up against the canyon walls.

I should probably write something about the colors in this photograph. I actually held this one back for some time on account of the colors – which could easily be seen to be due to overly enthusiastic post-processing on my part. That’s not the case, but there have been a few other photographs that I have made that have evoked such responses, and sometimes I’d rather not have to explain. However, in this case I will explain! :-) The entire scene is in shadow, as the very tall cliffs are along the west rim of the canyon and completely block sun from this spot for a good portion of the day. The cliff face is extensively covered with a sort of “varnish” that is commonly seen on such walls, though it is much more extensive than usual here. This material normally is quite dark, black even, and is more reflective than natural sandstone. When it is in the shade it tends to reflect the blue tones of the sky – and that is where the intense coloration of this cliff comes from.

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

Trees on Granite Ridge

May 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Rugged trees growing along the top of a glaciated granite ridge, Yosemite National Park

I made this photograph on my first visit of the season to the Tioga Pass area of the Yosemite National Park high country. I managed to be there on the first and second open days. This was an unusual though perhaps not unprecedented sort of opening, in that there was a record low amount of snow in the Sierra as the warm season began, and this was the second of two back-to-back low-snowfall winters. This season was an odd one. I was in the Sierra back in early fall and it seemed like we might actually have an early and wet winter. Certainly things played out that way through the end of 2012 – but then the tap was shut off and there was precious little precipitation at all during the first part of 2013. As you can see in the photograph, there was still some snow around, but it looked more like late June or even early July of a more typical year.

The photograph was made near a very popular location along Tioga Pass Road, though I walked more or less the opposite direction from the objects of everyone else’s interest to find a vantage point that let me photograph back across this granite ridge, littered with glacial erratic boulders and the debris from exfoliation, and supporting a few trees. The morning light slanted in from behind the ridge and the trees and left a bluish haze between this ridge and the even larger granite ridge across a deep valley.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Building 106, Night

Dormant Oaks, Winter Mists

Cottonwood Tree, Sandstone Canyon Walls

Trees on Granite Ridge

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