Photographs: Nature

Succulent Leaves, Detail

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Succulent Leaves, Detail
Black and white close-up photograph of succulent leaves.

Succulent Leaves, Detail. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Black and white close-up photograph of succulent leaves.

There is a tension in photographs between viewing them as “captures” of reality and their ability to show subjects as something other than or in addition to their appearance. One of my favorite observations about photographs comes from Minor White: “One does not photograph something simply for ‘what it is’, but for ‘what else it is’.” To observers who want to “get” photography, I suggest keeping this idea front and center.

You may have seen a plant just like the one that was in front of my lens when I made this photograph. We know that the thing in this picture is very small plant, perhaps of a sort we are familiar with. But the idea here is not to show you “what the plant looks like,” much less “what the plant is.” It is — perhaps obviously! — to suggest that you look at the familiar plant for what else it might be.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains and Valley

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Desert Mountains and Valley
Badlands, mountains, and a valley, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains and Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Badlands, mountains, and a valley, Death Valley National Park.

As I continue (still!) working my way though this year’s Death Valley photographs, a familiar process is at work. I first go to images that jump out at me or which I specifically recall making. In some ways, this is the easiest part of the process. Then I dig into the archive more carefully, considering photographs that seem less obvious, but which “work” once I spend time with them. At about this point I imagine that I have finished, but the thought that I’ve missed something gnaws at me, and inevitably I head back into the files again and gradually find subtler images that I like.

This is one of those later-stage photographs. On this morning I made several exposures from this spot, and two others initially jumped out at me as “the shots” from this place. When I looked at this one, there were things I liked about it, but I had other photographs that I wanted to deal with first. When I finally came back to it I think I started to realize what I must have instinctively found interesting about this scene when I pushed the shutter button. It is a large landscape, looking across bare foreground hill into a large valley, and toward desert mountains distant enough to introduce the effects of atmospheric haze.

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

White Flower

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White Flower
The center of a white flower.

White Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The center of a white flower.

This photograph comes from one of our spring visits to a large formal garden in the San Francisco Bay Area. We timed our visit to coincide with the tulip bloom, but there was a lot more to see. While macro photography isn’t my main thing (which is not to say that I don’t enjoy and appreciate it), photographing flowers gives me a good excuse to break out the macro lens and get close.

To be clear, this is not remotely intended to be viewed as a “realistic” depiction of this flower. If anything, it might be about “flower-ness” — the patterns, shapes, and forms of blossoms. You are looking at the center of a larger flower, and one that was actually subtly colorful. My intention was to begin with what the “capture” gave me to work with, and then use that as a departure point for what I wanted this photograph to be.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Springs

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Desert Springs
Ponds from desert springs in a remote part of Death Valley National Park.

Desert Springs. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Ponds from desert springs in a remote part of Death Valley National Park.

Usually my photographs are, at least to my mind, more about how I see something than about the thing I saw — though there is always a bit of tension between those two things. This one is more about “the thing” itself. If you look closely there is a series of three lakes or ponds in this improbable location, far out on the fringes of one of the hottest and driest places in North America. This spot has a history involving mining, the transportation of goods, and some nearby springs. But the amazement of finding water in such a place is shared with all such locations.

I’ve long felt that desert landscapes are among the best places to see the effects of water. Along a stream fed by mountain snowpack, water is a given. Out here it is rare, and you have to look around to see the many signs of its work. A playa? Formed by water. A gigantic fan spreading out from a desert mountain valley? Water. Undulating terrain under the roadway? Water. A small but striking strip of green? Water. The rugged forms of badlands? Water. The effects are literally everywhere you look.

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 | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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