Tag Archives: afternoon

Photographs: Photographers, Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographer Doug Kaye

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Photographer Doug Kaye
Photographer Doug Kaye prowling a San Francisco alley in late afternoon light

Photographer Doug Kaye. San Francisco, California. September 5, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Doug Kaye prowling a San Francisco alley in late afternoon light

Back in early September I joined up with a group of fellow photographers to explore areas of downtown San Francisco in late afternoon light, followed by dinner, and then a return to the streets to photograph at night. Among the group was photographer Doug Kaye, here seen walking into the light along a narrow San Francisco street, a street lined with a bit of Dr. Seuss architecture with wildly dissonant angles from shadows, fire escape leaders, perspective convergence, and a crazily tilting lamp-post.

Later on this evening we headed back out after dark to photograph areas between roughly upper Chinatown and the Union Square vicinity. Night street photography is rapidly becoming a bit of a passion. Last year on a trip to Manhattan I realized that my little mirrorless camera performs well enough at high ISOs that I can effectively do handheld photography in the urban night environment — and this was a revelation!

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

Aspen Forest and Hills

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Aspen Forest and Hills
Ranks of autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest in afternoon light

Aspen Forest and Hills. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Ranks of autumn aspen trees ascend the slopes of the Eastern Sierra toward the crest in afternoon light

This is a photograph of brilliantly colorful eastern Sierra fall foliage… in black and white. Because I can! The location is along US 395 as it passes along the eastern escarpment of the range, and in this spot the hills are terraced upward toward the Sierra crest, high above and out of sight in this photograph. Aspens grow in abundance on these lower slopes, interspersed with grasslands, and leading to more aspens up higher and eventually to conifer forests.

I like to photograph in this area in the late afternoon, when low angle sun light comes streaming over the top of the mountains and backlights the trees and accentuates the effect of haze. While the close trees probably first got my attention, it was the little row of trees in the far distance, seen near the upper margin of the photograph, that eventually intrigued me the most. Why black and white? To be honest, one reason that I thought of this at the time I made the exposure was that, frankly, the colors were not yet at their peak. As I though about that it became clear to me that this photograph was not so much about fall color as it was about fall atmosphere — that softening and warming of the light, the gentle haze that mutes the details of more distant subjects. And I thought of this as just a little bit of a personal challenge. Frankly, it is probably easier to make a photograph in color that says “autumn.” But I know that black and white photographers have been able to accomplish the same thing, and I thought it would be interesting to give it a try myself.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Forest, and Dome

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Meadow, Forest, and Dome
Afternoon light along the edge of Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

Meadow, Forest, and Dome. Yosemite National Park, California. July 14, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light along the edge of Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

Late in the afternoon, about the time that many day visitors leave Tuolumne Meadows for their lodgings and when many campers are fixing dinner, I wandered out into the meadow with no particular destination in mind. With the exception of a few other walkers and two or three deer, I mostly had the meadow to myself. I walked slowly along a narrow finger of grasses between trees encroaching that are gradually encroaching on the meadow, passed through the last trees in one of these stands, and found myself in a large section of open meadow. After so many years in the Sierra and particularly in this place, it has a quiet and comfortable and unhurried feeling on an evening like this one.

Farther downstream the larger forest trees came to the edge of the meadow, and late afternoon golden light slanted across the meadow past these trees. Beyond the shoulder of a granite dome sloped down toward the lower terrain, catching the sun from the 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.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light

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Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light
Afternoon light coming over the Sierra crest illuminates a subalpine eastern Sierra valley

Eastern Sierra Valley, Afternoon Light. Sierra Nevada, California. July 17, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light coming over the Sierra crest illuminates a subalpine eastern Sierra valley

This little spot is not far from the boundary of Yosemite. It is a place that people often stop, but from what I’ve seen they usually stop for reasons other than the view. (Recently I was there very early in the morning, and I found a bunch of impromptu campers there — probably folks who weren’t able to get a campsite inside the park.) Some years ago I “discovered” a couple of views from the spot that I’ve come to enjoy and return to — one looking towards a nearby tall peak from an angle different from the more familiar views, and the other looking westward up this high valley with meadows along the creek, forest leading up the lower slopes, and high and rocky terrain above.

This time I was there in the afternoon, and on a very hazy day. (This has been the Year of Haze in the Sierra, largely due to the dry condition and the consequent early and widespread wildfires.) I love haze, and in many ways I prefer hazy conditions over crystal clear air. so my first thoughts were of how I could use this hazy atmosphere in my photograph. As I stood at this spot with my tripod set up, clouds traversed the Sierra summit, sending shadows across the valley — alternately putting everything in shade and then revealing features and the light crept back across the landscape. So I began to watch the clouds and the approaching beams of light, trying to predict when I might see an ideal combination of the two. At the moment I made this exposure most of the scene was in sun, though a few shadows added relief to the darker areas of the forest across the valley.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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