Wildfire Smoke, Early Morning

October 14, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

layers of thick wildfire smoke obscure the morning light

This was the culmination of more than twelve hours of observation of a developing wildfire located east of the Sierra Nevada, roughly between Lee Vining and Mammoth Lakes. The previous evening I finished a hike into the Sierra backcountry not far from Tioga Pass, returning to my car well after sunset. As I drove back down Lee Vining Canyon in the near-darkness I saw a big tower of smoke to the southeast and the tell-tale glow of fire on the bottom of the cloud. The next morning I woke up and headed straight back toward Mono Lake, from which I figured I could photograph conditions related to the fire.

I began photographing Mono Lake itself, where the lake was still mostly visible with only a few thin smoke clouds floating over it. But very soon this changed as winds brought the smoke right over Mono Lake, casting a pall over the scene all the way up to Conway Summit. My goal was to head south along the eastern escarpment, but as I did so the smoke only became thicker. I made this photograph at a point closer to the fire, where the smoke was very, very thick, enough so to take away most of the sunlight and add a post-apocalyptic quality to the scene.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Intersection, Montmartre, Dusk

October 13, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A deserted Montmartre intersection in the evening “blue hour,” Paris

This past August we stayed in Montemartre during our weeklong visit to Paris. We went to many places in Paris, often on foot, but we obviously ended up spending quite of bit of time in Montmartre near our hotel — going out on walks, looking for restaurants, returning from other adventures. This area is more hilly that other parts of Paris, so here the narrow and twisting streets also wind up and down hills in many places.

I’m not certain at the moment where we were headed on this evening, though there is a pretty good chance that it involved food! It might have been on our first night in Paris, when we didn’t yet know our way around the local area and we went out for what amounted to a random walk. I made the photograph during that brief interval between night and day, the “blue hour,” when all areas in shadow are lit by the blue wash of light from the sky. At the moment I made this photograph the light was dimming, just enough that the brightest street lights were beginning to create pools of warmer light.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dense Aspen Grove

October 12, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Small aspen trees, packed closely together, with golden autumn leaves, Eastern Sierra Nevada

While the exuberant colors of large groves of autumn aspens are attractive, there is something about the trunks that is hard to resist, even when the colors may have diminished a bit — or perhaps because the colors are less striking. I know I’m not the only photographer who returns to this “take” on the subject. It is fun and more than a bit challenging to make compositions out of such complexity. Frequently I’ll stop and look at a grove, think “that will make a great photograph,” and then gradually discover that some subtle element is not quite right and the whole thing won’t work. I’m continually surprised that a subject that seems so simple often isn’t.

To a great extent it is a question of balance of several sorts. The complex patterns of trunks cannot be completely uniform or there will be no form to the image. There must be some differentiation in the ways that trunks are grouped and among the angles of branches. But too much differentiation is also a problem. There is a “just right” quality to these compositions that is hard to explain, but which I know when I see it. A bit of “dissonance” can help, too — a little bit of something that seems to step outside the predominant patterns. In this photograph that could be the diagonal branches at coming across from the right, or it might be the group of closer leaves along one side. There is also some sense of depth, and if you look closely you may see a good distance into the more distant and darker areas of the small grove. And aside from the obvious vertical lines, there are three horizontal layers — brush at the bottom, trunks in the middle, and yellow leaves at the top.

Photographs: Nature

Poison Oak

October 11, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A vining poison oak plant grows on the bark of a coastal tree, Point Lobos

Californians learn about poison oak at an early age. I recall that in elementary school occasionally a fellow student would come to school suffering from an awful rash from this plant. From my earliest hikes in the California hills (but not the Sierra Nevada, to the relief of many!) I learned that the plant is everywhere and, like all hikers here, I learned to quickly identify it. It is known to most by the reddish-brown colors of the leaves, but the “leaves in threes” pattern is a more certain feature since it is also dangerous during its completely green phase.

Despite the danger, the plant can be quite beautiful — though I find it difficult to photograph. The red to brown tones of the plant is summer are striking, and it can actually appear quite lush during its winter growth period. I found this growth on the side of the tree at Point Lobos last winter, and was fortunate to be able to photograph it in partial shade and on a day when the sun’s intensity was muted a bit by haze and fog.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Wildfire Smoke, Early Morning

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Intersection, Montmartre, Dusk

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Dense Aspen Grove

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Poison Oak

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

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