Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Marsh, Dawn Fog

Image January 9, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bird photography is my excuse for going to this place in the winter. But the truth is that when the birds aren’t around I am happy to photograph this quiet and mysterious landscape, especially when morning tule fog drifts in and out. On this morning there were birds, but they weren’t where I was. So I paused in this spot and others like it and photographed the subtle light and colors of the early morning foggy landscape.

A bit more about the bird photography: I’m not sure how people imagine the process of photographing migratory birds, but I suspect that they might be surprised at how it actually works. Believe me, it is not a case of spending hours clicking off perfect exposures of astonishing wildlife. That happens, but there’s a lot of “slow time” between those moments, when the experience is more about the quiet and the slowing of time and about the landscape.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel

Ma Maison en Alsace

Image January 8, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have written before that our “home base” in Europe is Heidelberg, where relatives live. (Hi Greg and Jan, and others!) We were based there for the first three weeks of our late 2024 trip — we traveled out to Nürnberg, Munich, and the Alsace region of France. This photograph comes form the latter adventure. This building is in the little Alsatian town of Eguisheim, where there are a lot of these old school structures.

I don’t count myself as an expert on Equisheim or Alsace, but this town is apparently known for its circular form (based on very old protective walls) and for maintaining a whole lot of these old buildings. Most have, of course, been fixed up — and some turned into shops and lodging — but many of them lean in charming and occasionally alarming ways.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tree, Clearing Fog, Dawn

Image January 7, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Certain subjects keep drawing me back. I don’t mean just general types of subjects, but very specific things, places, objects, and so forth. This tree, at this time of day, in these conditions, is one of those subjects. It is at a place where I frequently photograph in the winter months, and I usually try to be there on mornings when the fog will clear at or after dawn — a morning just like this one.

There is something to be said for seeking out new and unusual subjects. But I think there is also great value in returning to the same subjects and getting to know them more deeply. Beyond that, there is a wonderful sense of being “grounded” in a familiar landscape, one that you know from long acquaintance, to the point that the surprises happen against a backdrop of deep familiarity.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Narrow Street with Automobile

Image January 6, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a narrow street in Montpellier, France. Like so many European cities and towns, with their long histories, the central area is filled with these tiny, curving lanes. They were most definitely not designed with automobiles in mind — more likely pedestrians and perhaps an occasional horse-drawn wagon. Since the building are built right to the edge of the street, there is no way to widen the lanes — so cars are very small and access is quite limited.

If you are American, you might think this would be a bad thing. We are used to cities built around and/or adapted to the automobile. Even older cities, like those on the Eastern Seaboard, have been adapted to have many wider avenues and lots of parking — not necessarily “enough” parking, but still. The folks who live in these European cities seem to do OK, though. Vehicles can get in when necessary, but much of the time pedestrians take over these streets.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Marsh, Dawn Fog

Ma Maison en Alsace

Tree, Clearing Fog, Dawn

Narrow Street with Automobile

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