Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Forest, Mountain Fog

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Forest, Mountain Fog
“Forest, Mountain Fog” — Fog fills the valleys and rised towards the highlands along the Great Glen Way.

This photograph comes from one of the most “alpine” days of our Great Glen Way walk in Scotland earlier this year. In previous posts I have mentioned that much of this trek is quite civilized — more of a “walk” than a “hike” in some ways. Long sections follow the banks of the Caledonian Canal, others trace the shorelines of lochs, and in a few spots one can pull off the trail and order food! This was not one of those days. We climbed steeply out of town in the morning, and before long we were at treelike in cloudy and foggy conditions.

As a California hiker and fan of the Sierra Nevada, I am used to having to climb quite high to get to the open country above treelike — often 10,000 feet or higher before the last trees disappear. But in Scotland, with its northerly location (and some other factors), a few thousand feet of elevations will get you to country that looks like tundra. I made this photograph close to the highest trees in this location, where it was open enough to give a long view down into the fog-filled valley holding Loch Ness.

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: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Interior, St Giles’ Cathedral

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Interior, St Giles' Cathedral
“Interior, St Giles’ Cathedral” — Visitors walk through the interior of Edinburgh’s St. Giles’ Cathedral.

Our May 2024 visit to Scotland was centered around our weeklong Great Glen Way walk. But the majority of the trip was in more urban environments, ranging from smallScottish towns to London. Before leaving Scotland, we spent four days in Edinburgh. There is, of course, quite a lot to see there — from the “old” and “new” towns to our hike to Arthur’s Seat to the Holyrood Palace and more. St. Giles’ Cathedral is one of the most important and interesting sites in the Old Town.

We stayed in a mundane area that was perhaps a ten minute walk from Old Town, and our first walk there brought us almost immediately to St. Giles’ Cathedral, and it was one of our first stops. I’m no expert on Scottish history — far from it — but we quickly understood that this place is a center for quite a bit of it. Its history goes back many centuries, and during that time it has been used by Catholics, Protestants, royalty, and for other secular events. This continues today — there were concerts there and even a craft sale inside!

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

North Shore, Fog

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North Shore, Fog
“North Shore, Fog” — Monterey cycpres trees top North Shore cliffs on a foggy morning at Point Lobos State Reserve.

This is another photograph from my gloriously-foggy late-July visit to Point Lobos. I made a morning escape from the too-hot inland temperatures, hoping for an hour or two of cool fog on the coast before the fog burned off. I was pleasantly surprised when it stuck around well past noon. I spent a few hours wandering slowly along the north short of Point Lobos in the cool fog, photographing the headlands cliffs, Monterey cypress trees, and the fog-shrouded Pacific Ocean.

I stopped at this spot twice, once near the beginning of my amble and again near the end. The first time it was very foggy, and the farthest prominence was almost completely obscured. It was still quite foggy when I came back. but the cloud deck had lifted enough to open the view towards the end of these cliffs a bit more, and as I photographed I was able to watch sea birds wheeling around the rocks.

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

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Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Lamp, Window, Morning Light

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Lamp, Window, Morning Light
“Lamp, Window, Morning Light” A lamp on the ledge of a window in a Stirling, Scotland hotel.

This is an opportunistic photograph, made at a moment when photography is not typically my priority. We were staying in Stirling, Scotland for a few days after our Great Glen Way walk, and it turned out that breakfast was included with our room. So instead of heading out to hunt for coffee and breakfast, we just walked down that hallway, took the elevator down a floor, and walked into the dining room. And there on the window sill next to our table was this eye-catching lamp, posing against the window lit by morning light, with the blue sky beyond.

“So,” you may ask,” you say you weren’t thinking about photographing. But you had your camera with you? At breakfast?” Well, not exactly. This is an iPhone photograph. (I’ll bet that you didn’t realize that until now, right?) It turns out that sometimes the iPhone can be used to make things other than selfies. For the photographers out there, I did use the iPhone’s raw mode so that I’d have a bit more latitude in post — as you can imagine, the dynamic range in this scene was pretty large!

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

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

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