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

Dogwood Blossoms, Forest

Image June 3, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Spring dogwoods bloom under the canopy of a Yosemite Valley forest.

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t thinking about dogwood blossoms when I made plans to visit Yosemite Valley the week before the Memorial Day holiday. I was so focused on going to photograph the effects of the historic snow melt runoff that I completed forgot that the dogwoods would still be in bloom. On the bright side, it was quite a wonderful surprise to get to the Valley and be reminded!

This was, as I have previously written, a quick one-day up-and-back trip. Since I had a four-hour drive ahead of me at the end of the day, I finished up in the Valley right around sunset, and this grove of dogwood trees was my final stop of the day. I have photographed here before, and I’m especially fond of one of the big conifers hiding behind the leafy dogwoods.

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: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tree and Lake, Central Park

Image June 2, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A goose swims past a solitary tree in a Central Park lake on a rainy day in Manhattan.

What you cannot “see” in this photograph is the sound of 58th Street traffic, along with all of the other nearby big city stimuli of Manhattan. This is a “landscape” photograph, of course, but the landscape is different than those I typically photograph in the American West. But on this rainy morning, when I escaped my hotel to walk and photograph for an hour or two, it presented a welcome slice of the natural world.

Those who know this park may wonder how I photographed it without any people, and even why I photographed it that way. As I walked along the near edge of this path, my view of this lake was unobstructed by anyone or anything besides a few branches. In a way, these little moments of silence and what passes here for solitude seem more precious given where they are found.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Rainy Day, Central Park

Image June 1, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A Manhattan schist outcropping, spring trees, and cloud-shrouded buildings on a rainy day in Central Park.

In the past I have tried to explain how and why a “landscape photographer” (a designation that can be problematic…) might find urban photography interesting. Often I point out the appeal of the differences between the two types, but I’ve also noted similarities. I think this photograph gets at the latter. Rather than explaining, I’ll just ask you to imagine replacing those buildings with appropriate mountains or cliff faces.

The photograph comes from my recent “spring” weekend in Manhattan,… during which I experienced three days of pretty continuous rain. I went out on this morning specifically to photograph the low clouds that were enveloping the upper stories of the tallest buildings. I ended up at the lower end of Central Park, where it was possible to juxtapose a natural scene (spring trees and exposed schist outcroppings) with the characteristic Manhattan buildings.

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

Forest and Tower, Afternoon

Image May 31, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Gentle afternoon haze and soft spring light on forest and granite towers, Yosemite Valley.

The main visual aspect of Yosemite Valley, I think, is of massive, iconic formations in combinations that would be almost impossible to imagine: a dome sliced in half, waterfalls launching from the edges of cliffs thousands of feet above the valley, incomprehensibly massive expanses of granite, the u-shaped form with a carpet of trees at the bottom. But more subtle things characterize the place, too: the back-lit afternoon haze, cloud shadows moving ac ross the landscape, trees and meadows next to the river, and more.

The location is a bit west of the most popular parts of the Valley, wheres a beautiful small meadow provides more open views of the surroundings. The meadow that can be more of a lake in the snow melt season when the nearby Merced river rises. This spot was almost the final stop on my recent one-day visit to the Valley, and there I found multiple subjects to photograph.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Dogwood Blossoms, Forest

Tree and Lake, Central Park

Forest and Tower, Afternoon

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