Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Behind The Wall

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Behind The Wall
The “backside” of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery

Behind The Wall. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The “backside” of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery.

A possible alternative title for this photograph could be “Back Side Gallery.” Get it? OK, I’ll explain. The wall is The Wall, a remnant of the old Berlin Wall. This section is now known as the East Side Gallery, and on the other side (the “front side”) it features a wonderful array of street art that memorializes and comments on the Wall, its history, and a range of related subjects.

The East Side Gallery is, among many other things (most of which are likely more significant than what I’m about to write) a powerful example of how art claims out attention and can, at least temporarily, distract our vision from the mundane. The location of this section of the wall is unremarkable. One one side (where most probably don’t look) is this empty field, a plain wall covered with graffiti, and not much else. On the other side, as you stand looking at the “Gallery” portion, behind you is a busy roadway and an area filled with architecture that is not exactly eye-catching. But if you stop and take in the street-art side of the wall and the impromptu street theater produced by visitors, all of the rest of that temporarily disappears.

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

Dunes, Shadows, Morning

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Dunes, Shadows, Morning
Patterns of morning light and shadows on dunes, Death Valley National Park

Dunes, Shadows, Morning. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns of morning light and shadows on dunes, Death Valley National Park.

I made this photograph early in the morning. A small group of us arrived while it was still dark out, anticipating a walk of perhaps a half hour to get to the area we wanted to visit. Since we wanted to be in position well before dawn, we were set to start walking before there was enough light to see our objective. Someone asked, “Which way do we go?” I looked into the murk, couldn’t really make out the dunes, and guessed, “That way! We’ll correct course when the light arrives.”

In the dunes you find yourself in a veritable photographer’s laboratory of of shapes, juxtapositions, textures, and colors. And it is not static scene either when you are there very early or very late in the day — the light changes quickly. Dusk light lends brings softer light and lens a blue cast to the scene. When the sunlight first arrives there can be stark differences between brightly lit highlights and deeper shadows with cooler tones. Before long the colors began to fade and the scene can become more subtle or even nearly monochromatic. When I made this photograph, warm and color-saturated light was coming across the top of the dunes, but the light in the shadows, still mainly from open sky, was of a cooler blue color.

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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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk and Brick Building

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Sidewalk and Brick Building
The front of a brick building on a steep San Francisco street

Sidewalk and Brick Building. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The front of a brick building on a steep San Francisco street.

The tilt of the sidewalk may just give away the location, at least if you happen to already know that I frequently photograph urban subjects while walking around San Francisco. As is often the case, I now don’t recall precisely where I photographed this little vignette, though there is a very good chance that it was in or not far from the Chinatown district of The City.

Without knowing exactly why — though I have a few ideas — I’m always attracted to little architectural scenes like this one. My best guess is that it is some combination of color, composition, texture, and light. Most of the color in this scene is not very intense, but the red pole and the greenish winter moss caught my attention. The scene is filled with rectangles, from the smaller size of tile and bricks to the larger shapes formed by the windows, doors, and sections of wall.

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

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

Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening

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Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening
Evening light on dunes and eroded desert hills in Death Valley National Park

Dunes and Desert Hills, Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on dunes and eroded desert hills in Death Valley National Park.

This view is probably at least somewhat familiar to most who have visited Death Valley, though some may have overlooked it while paying more attention to a more famous nearby feature. The scene incorporates several elements that are “classic” Death Valley: the low dunes in the foreground, the large expanse of low-angle on the other side of the dunes, and the denuded desert hills and mountains ascending beyond that.

I found myself in the particular location from which I made the photograph as the result of some last-minute scrambling to deal with problematic light. Originally I was planning to photograph in sand dunes in the late-day and evening light. However, when I arrived I found that a large cloud had “turned out the lights” on that scene, and I wasn’t sure if it would move in time. So I tried a different strategy — rather than focus on one small subject I found a place from which I could see the vast expanse of the entire upper valley, and then I waited for various areas to be spotlighted by beams of light breaking through the clouds. A brief moment of light slanted across the low dunes and onto the hills across the valley just before the sun dropped behind mountains to my west.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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.