Brandon In Manhattan

Brandon In Manhattan
Brandon Mitchell on the streets of Manhattan

Brandon In Manhattan. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brandon on the streets of Manhattan.

This is, technically speaking, a family photograph. This is the oldest of our three “kids,” in a photograph I made near the end of December, along some street somewhere between Midtown and Lower Manhattan as we took a very long afternoon and early evening walk in New York City.

He has been in Manhattan for, well I’d have to look it up so let’s just say “a long time.” Could it have been a decade now? Because our two sons and their wives (along with Patty’s brother and his family) live in New York City, we are fortunate to have an excellent excuse to visit the place at least once per year or so. While it is impossible for visitors like us to really know the place, we feel comfortable with great swaths of this city now, and it is among my favorite places to photograph.


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 and Amazon.

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Lake, Mountains, Evening Light

Lake, Mountains, Evening Light
Evening light over a small alpine lake and tall mountains deep in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, Sequoia National Park.

Lake, Mountains, Evening Light. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light over a small alpine lake and tall mountains deep in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, Sequoia National Park.

This photograph takes me way back, almost a decade ago, to a long Southern Sierra pack trip with a great group of fiends. We came in over a high Sierra crest pass, then a couple of days later crossed an even higher pass (that doesn’t cross the crest), and dropped into some of my favorite Sierra Nevada backcountry in a place where we walked for miles through broken and rocky terrain before finally descending to the first trees we had seen since early that morning. We camped, and the next day we headed further into the backcountry, to an area where far fewer backpackers are found.

I made this photograph in a truly magical place where we camped that night. It was one of the few spots I’ve been to in the range where I could almost imagine that I was camping in a spot that no one had previously visited. (I know better, but it was isolated enough to feel that way.) We saw no one other than the members of our own little group fo three that day, that night, and into the next morning. This evening photograph looks across a small alpine lake toward a towering and rugged range that is not, despite its appearance, the Sierra crest.


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 and Amazon.

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Balloon Vendor

Balloon Vendor
A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

Balloon Vendor. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

There was a lot going on in the vicinity of this colorful little Manhattan scene. It was a few days after Christmas, during the period between then and New Year’s Day when it seems that tourists and other visitors take over the sidewalks and streets of New York City, at least in the most popular areas. This is one of those areas, right near Rockefeller Center. Basically, the sidewalks were packed with people and at times it was difficult to move forward.

Along this block there were many street vendors, selling the usual assortment of Manhattan items: cheap knock-off watches, umbrellas and warm hats, food, souvenir shirts, and balloons. The balloons, leaning into the passing crowd, were quite a colorful diversion. That aside, as I see the street vendors I always wonder who they are, how they make a living doing this, and what sort of lives they must lead… and how all of that fits together in a place like Manhattan.


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 and Amazon.

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

Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains

Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains
Brighltly colored dusk clouds above the snow-capped Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

Dusk Sky, Snow-Capped Mountains. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brighltly colored dusk clouds above the snow-capped Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

This year I made my first photography foray back to Death Valley in mid-January. From my perspective, the season for this place lasts from about November until the first few weeks of April in a typical year, the period when the temperatures range between cold-to-comfortable and not-quite-yet-unbearably hot. My favorite time to go is when it is still truly winter, and especially at times where few others are there. I timed this trip correctly for the winter weather, but I neglected to consider that my trip crossed into a three-day weekend — and there were crowds. It took me longer than expected to settle into a campsite, and by the time I was able to head out for photography it was later than I had planned.

I decided to head toward a nearby area that I now pretty well, saving more distant explorations for the following days. I went to an area where I had an unobstructed view of the Panamint Range (one of those place I would soon visit). In winter, these “desert mountains” are often quite wintry, and during this visit they were covered in snow. I made this photograph, with the mountains already becoming dark, as the last brilliant light colored the western sky.


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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | FacebookEmail

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.