Mount Dana

Mount Dana
Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds

Mount Dana. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds.

This photograph comes from last summer, on a lovely mid-July day when I was slowly poking around a few locations near the eastern Yosemite boundary on a relatively early visit to the high country. You never know, from year to year, what you’ll find there in July. In a very snowy year this scene could still hold a lot of snow, but in 2018 the snowfall had been less impressive, and most of it was already gone. The creeks were still high and meadow grasses were coming up, with the promise of wildflowers soon to arrive.

The peak itself is on the park boundary, and the view here looks toward the side that is inside the park. However, my camera location was outside the park, in an area that has long intrigued me — for this view, for views back up to the crest north of Tioga Pass, and for some of the more intimate nearby views. It was a cloudy day, and alternative light and shadow moved across the landscape, changing the appearance from moment to moment.


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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A Dog’s Life

A Dog's Life
A dog naps beneath the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery

A Dog’s Life. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dog naps beneath the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery.

There is a very good chance that this is the first photograph of a dog that I have shared. I’m positive that it is the first sleeping dog photo. Who knows? Maybe it will become a thing. Or not. As always, I’m impressed by the extent to which dogs can simply ignore the tumult going on around them. There was a constant stream of people walking past and the sidewalk fronts a busy street.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this. I photographed the critter at the base of the Berlin wall, at the section called the East Side Gallery where the remnants have been painted. (Perhaps “Dogs Sleeping At The Berlin Wall” will be a genre?)


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.


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

Pacific Vortex

Pacific Vortex
Cloud patterns above California’s Pacific coastline

Pacific Vortex. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud patterns above California’s Pacific coastline.

Almost every time I photograph in this location at some point I turn my camera towards these sky and ocean-scapes that are almost abstract in form. While this photograph was made along the Big Sur Coastline of California, from beside the famous US Highway One, given the lack of definite landmarks it could be almost anywhere that ocean and sky meet.

The light and atmosphere were both fascinating and difficult on this visit. A Pacific winter weather system was approaching, and this can do all sorts of things to the atmosphere. In this case a cloud shield was forming overhead, thick enough to darken the landscape but still allowing some directional light. Below there was a lot of moisture in the air, with dissipating fog banks along coastal hills and offshore haze blurring the line of the horizon.


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.


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

Berlin Sky

“Berlin Sky” — Bubbles and clouds above Berlin.

Bubbles. Yes, bubbles. In almost any central area of European cities that is popular with tourists you won’t have to look too hard to find someone making gigantic soap bubbles… and hoping for a tip or two. I don’t usually photograph them — I do have a photograph from London of one bubble person — but I gave in this time.

For what it is worth, this is an example of how the ability to think and act quickly is useful in street and travel photography. I wasn’t going to photograph the person making the bubbles — not that exciting, honestly — but when I looked up and saw them drifting off into this cloud-filled sky I made a few quick adjustments to the camera settings, pointed upwards, and found ways to photograph the bubbles against the sky.


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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.

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