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Commentary, Ideas, Thinking Aloud, Tongue in Cheek

Telling Stories About Our Photographs

April 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 18 Comments

I am as guilty as (OK, more guilty than) anyone else when it comes to writing a lot of words about my photographs! This is ironic in a way, since I believe that, for the most part, successful photographs should be able to say whatever they have to say without a lot of verbal explanation or justification. (There are clearly exceptions to this “rule,” and this is not to say that there isn’t a lot to talk about in photographs.) But some people seem to enjoy the descriptions, so I offer a bit of back story about every photograph, and I love to discuss the photos with folks who share my interest.

Recently I read a post about a fine landscape photograph that someone had produced – the photograph was one of those that is good enough to make me think about how I might create such an image. As I write this now, I have forgotten whose post it was and precisely which photograph it was about. But something that struck me about this post was the tremendously compelling and somewhat scary story that the photographer told about getting the photo. It included things like standing for days in tremendously difficult and seemingly dangerous weather conditions, traveling miles and miles across difficult terrain to find precisely the image that he/she had previsualized, and the tremendous good fortune of finding this perfect image after days and days of enduring challenges that normal people would not or perhaps could not endure.

Some such stories may be true. (Though more often I suspect that they are considerably embellished, but what’s wrong with a bit of fun fiction now and then? :-) But sometimes I wonder if the effect of the photograph would be the same without the spine-tingling story-telling? And I wonder to what extent some viewers tend to look at (or not) photographs that are not accompanied by such compelling and daring tales? What is the balance between viewers being intrigued by the apparently adventure-filled lives lived by photographers and viewers reacting to the intrinsic quality of the photographs themselves?

With this in mind, I offer two descriptions of events associated with the creation of photographs. Think about how the stories affect your perception of the images – for better or worse. ;-)

Story #1

It was a tough morning in the arid desert valley. The oppressive early season heat had arrived and it was over 90 degrees shortly after sunrise. Raging wind threatened a dust storm, and I had been suffering in the heat and dust and dryness for many days. However, this remote location being a place of remarkable extremes, the surrounding mountain peaks were topped by several inches of recent snowfall, rendering many areas inaccessible to anyone unprepared for serious alpine travel. So I faced a choice — endure another day in the sun-blasted furnace of the valley or attempt to struggle up into the alpine zones of the towering mountains and make a photograph. Continue reading Telling Stories About Our Photographs →

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Monterey Pines, Fog

March 30, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Monterey Pines growing along cliff tops on the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve with Carmel coastline visible in the distance.

These beautiful and tough Monterey Cypress trees grow at the edges of cliffs above the Pacific Ocean along the north shore of Point Lobos, and on this foggy morning the outline of the Carmel shoreline was just barely visible beyond them. The light was difficult, but I think it ended up helping produce a very moody image that, for me, evokes that feeling of walking though this area on such a morning.

I’m one of those strange people who is usually a bit disappointed when the weather here is clear! In fact, I’ll change my mind and decide not to go photograph at Point Lobos if I hear it is going to be a beautiful blue sky day. My ideal is a day with fog or clouds or rain, and especially so if there is a chance that a bit of light might try to break through clearing (or arriving) clouds.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Big Sur Coast Near Bixby Creek, Winter

January 17, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Light winter rain falls on the rugged Big Sur coastline near Bixby Creek.

This is one more – and perhaps the final – photograph from New Years Day 2011 along the Big Sur coast line. While this is perhaps not your chamber of commerce picture perfect day, it is my kind of Big Sur day. As I made the photograph the wind was absolutely howling – so strong that I couldn’t really use my tripod, so I instead hand held the camera and braced it and myself against a very large boulder. To make things even more “fun,” it was trying very hard to rain!

The location is precisely at the spot where many of the iconic photographs of Bixby Bridge are made, at the north end of the bridge. However, on this day I thought that the subdued tones of the winter ocean and cliffs were more interesting, so I framed my photographs to avoid including the bridge.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Pelican Above Water

January 9, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

A solo pelican coasts above the surface of the Pacific Ocean near the central California coast.

There is not too much to say about this one – since I posted a companion pelican photograph yesterday! This one is also “from the archives” – a photograph from last May that I found as I looked through last year’s raw files one last time.

(For those who are reading this in the archives, a bit more information. I frequently photograph pelicans along the California Pacific Ocean shoreline. This photograph was made from a location where I can access the top of a coastal bluff that drops almost immediately straight down to the water. The pelicans seem to make a habit of cruising up and down the tops of these bluffs on the updrafts that are created by the onshore breeze, and they fly very close to the bluff edges where I can photograph them close up.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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