Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist

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Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist
“Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist” — Late-Summer morning mist rises from a subalpine pond surrounded by dense forest.

I have driven past this lake for years — decades actually — but I’ve only stopped a few times and hardly ever tried to photograph it. Until this year. Earlier this summer I was there on a morning after rain, and the little basin was full of luminous fog. On this mid-September visit the weather was wet, foo, and I had to stop and photograph when I saw more fog.

There is a sort of classic view of this feature, and I did make some photographs from that perspective. But then I decided to wander along the side of the pond, reaching its end and then walking back through forest. From that perspective, the view through the trees caught my attention, so I positioned myself behind a few backlit shoreline trees to make this photograph.

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

Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini

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Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini
“Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini” — Light and shadows on buildings at the Ponte Dei Carmini, Venice.

This photograph from Venice embodies many of the features that I expect to see in that part of the world. The Southern European light? Yes. Wrought iron work? Check. Earth tone colors on the buildings? Indeed. Narrow walkways? For sure. Of course, the venetian-style canals — not visible in this photo — are not quite so ubiquitous.

I’ll share a little technical note about this photograph. Cameras cannot really produce a native image that shows us details in both the very bright highlights (direct sunlight) and deep shadows. (Our eyes deal with this by quickly adapting to the brightness at the center of our attention.) So with digital photography our first priority is to protect those bright highlights — let them get out of control and you’ll lose highlight details completely. The subsequent post-processing task is then to brighten details in the shadows to restore what we think we saw when we looked at the scene. The trick is to do that in a manner that doesn’t give it away, one that doesn’t make the technique too obvious

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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: Europe, Photographs: Kosovo, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Travel

Forest, White Drin River

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Forest, Whie Drin River
“Forest, White Drin River” — A person stands next to the White Drin River under a forest canopy, Kosovo.

The White Drin is a branch of the Drin River that drains Kosovo and parts of Albania — this portion begins in the mountains along the western side of Kosovo. Some regard a waterfall a bit further up the river from here as its source. This scene is along the popular walking route to that fall.

While many of my landscape photographs exclude people, it seems appropriate to include one (and more, if you look closely) here. This location, not far from the town of Peja (or Pec) is extremely popular. The place was crowded when we visited, with families walking the route and in places trailside vendors.

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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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow and Young Trees, Morning

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Meadow and Young Trees, Morning
“Meadow and Young Trees, Morning” — A meadow interspersed with young trees ascends toward forest and ridges in morning light.

I have passed this spot on Tioga Pass Road for years and thought about making a photograph. I could only catch a brief glimpse while driving by since it is along a section of the roadway with no obvious pull-out. In mid-September it caught my eye again, especially with I saw haze and light beams in the trees. So I turned around, went back, and finally located a place to pull over a short walk away.

This part of the Yosemite High Sierra is full of little meadows like this one, stretching upwards along streams that descend from higher peaks. This one is full of young trees that are gradually filling in the meadow, and I suppose someday the meadow will be gone and the stream will flow through the forest.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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.

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