Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Agave Plants

December 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Agave plants, the Huntington botanical gardens

We spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in Southern California — and once we finished the Big Eating Day Celebration, we did other things. Well, OK, we ate more, too. Among those other things was a trip to the Huntington Library, etc. in San Marino, a place that we had not been to before. (The “etc.” above acknowledges the ridiculously long name of the place, a name the mentions galleries, library, and gardens. I wonder if people in the area perhaps just call it “The Huntington?”)

There was lots to see there. We started by focusing on art, both old and new — including an exhibit of photographs — and then moved on to lunch, followed by visits to a bunch of gardens: Chinese, Japanese, tropical, and desert. I wasn’t there primary for photography, but since I had a camera with me I did make a few photographs, including this close up of the beautiful leaves of this plant, whose form is almost always intriguing.

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Photographs: Photographers, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Detail, Wildcat Hill

December 14, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Detail of a building at Wildcat Hill

This is the third and final (for now, anyway) photograph from my visit to the historic Wildcat Hill home of Edward Weston and other members of the Weston family, today including Kim and Gina Weston. I suppose that visiting the Weston compound is something of a photographer’s pilgrimage, given Edward Weston’s influence and the work of the other photographers in the Weston family. (I believe there now may be as many as five generations of Weston photographers.)

The place is fascinating in many ways. Given its location, today not far from a very busy tourist byway, it is especially intriguing to think about what the place must have been like many decades ago. The main building is maintained in much the way it must have been many years ago, and it is a rather humble structure. Inside are many fascinating artifacts — Weston prints, paintings, sculpture, objects from the home, the small Edward Weston darkroom, and more. Over the years the place seems to have picked up a large number of small bits and pieces of “stuff” that is found everywhere — on shelves, attached to walls, scattered around the grounds. These things make fascinating subjects for almost any photographer.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest, Ridge, and Haze

December 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning haze mutes the details of forested coastal ridges along the California coast

Yes, yet another of the December black and white photographs — inspired by all of the black and white “challenge” posting going on right now. This photograph comes from 2010 when I made one of my frequent visits to the Point Lobos area along the California coast south of Monterey, an area that I have visited for decades. The typical focus of those visits is the shoreline itself, which is very spectacular here and which produces a wide range of moods throughout the year.

The photograph was made at Point Lobos, but much of what you see is not actually in this state park. The foreground forest is, but the high coastal hills rising beyond are outside the park. As beautiful as the ocean is, there is a lot to see if you turn your eyes in the opposite direction, too! On this morning there was high, thin cloudiness along with a great deal of backlit atmospheric haze — perhaps my favorite conditions for photographing scenes like this one! The haze glows in the backlight, and it mutes the smaller “busy” features of the landscape, allowing the larger forms to be seen more clearly… and perhaps evoking a sense of mystery.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Green Building and Tracks

December 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Ambient light floods the side of a building and old railroad tracks with green-tinted light, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

A friend recently shared a photograph of a bit of curving railroad track, and I recognized it as being the same track that appears in this photograph from seven and a half years ago. I went back to look it up to share it with him, and in doing so I realized that I seem to have not shared it previously — so I’m rectifying that with this posting!

I have been photographing this location at night for over a decade now. I’m pretty certain that my first visit was back in 2003, when I happened to see an announcement of an event sponsored by The Nocturnes the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group. I had seen photographs made at night, of course, but it wasn’t anything that I had ever done, so I showed up. I was quickly hooked, especially when it comes to photographing urban and industrial areas in ambient light. This photograph is fine example of what attracts me about that light. If you were there in person, you would not really see anything quite like this — it was so dark that most of the details would be lost in shadow, the intense colors would be invisible to your eyes, and the only real details would be on the small lighted wall in the distance. But the camera can see what the eyes cannot. Here that includes not only the details in shadow areas, but also the wild colors that are produced by artificial lights.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Agave Plants

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Detail, Wildcat Hill

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Forest, Ridge, and Haze

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Green Building and Tracks

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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.