Tag Archives: america

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake Moonrise

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Mono Lake Moonrise
Early autumn full moon rising over Mono Lake, California.

Mono Lake Moonrise. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early autumn full moon rising over Mono Lake, California.

This is a photograph of that magical moment when an early-autumn full moon rises above the mountains to the east of Mono Lake while there is still a bit of sunset or early twilight light in the sky. I’ve experienced this here quite a few times, and I often time my arrival at this point for this hour when it is full moon time. On this evening it all worked out perfectly: intense color in the sky as the moon appeared, plus sky color reflected on the surface of the lake, interspersed with blue areas where surface turbulence broke up the reflection.

Photographing a full moon is a bit trickier than it might appear at first glance, especially if you want to include the landscape in the scene, too. Once it is dark or close to it, the difference between the light on the landscape and light of the moon is huge — the moon is essentially a daylight exposure, while that landscape is much darker. Even with a camera that had enough dynamic range to capture both of those extremes, you would either end up with a well-exposed moon and a nearly invisible landscape or a nicely exposed landscape and featureless white disk of a moon. One approach is to time the photograph so that the moon in in the sky before it is fully dark. Ideally, this means photographing the moon a bit before it is truly “full” — or photographing at a time of year when there is still light on the landscape when a truly full moon rises.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

A Seal’s Life, Part II

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A Seal's Life, Part II
A group of elephant seals lounging on a Southern California beach.

A Seal’s Life, Part II. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of elephant seals lounging on a Southern California beach.

If you thought that the earlier photograph on a young elephant seal was the only one in the series… you were wrong! I have several more to share before I’m done. To be honest, photographing this group was almost an after-thought. We were passing though the area on our way to another destination and, well, why not stop? Even though we’ve been there many times before. So we pulled out for a break and walked the fancy trail along the edge of the bluff to a point where I could overall a big group of these big critters on the beach.

Elephant seal are, of course, impressive — mostly, but not entirely, in good ways. (About that not entirely part, their manners, uh, don’t exactly conform to what we were likely taught as children. There are a lot of gross noises, some random fighting, and more. Oh, and have you heard about the smell?) For animals that are reportedly skillful hunters and quite graceful swimmers, on land they look awkward and, to be honest, like large, lazy lumps of seal flesh. But the view we get of them is hardly the whole story, since we generally only can watch them where they haul out onto beaches… where they nap, lie about, make noises, flip sand on their backs, occasionally claim their bit of beach territory, and generally don’t do much at all — saving up their energy, I imagine, for the important work of hunting once they get back in the water.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature

Last Light, Mono Lake

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Last Light, Mono Light
The shoreline of Mono Lake, a cone, mountains, and the last light of an early Autumn evening.

Last Light, Mono Lake. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shoreline of Mono Lake, a cone, mountains, and the last light of an early Autumn evening.

The views from this section of Mono Lake have long intrigued me. I think it may be because I frequently arrive here late in the day from the north, and especially in the autumn it is pretty common for me to come down the grade from Conway Summit at just about sunset. On quite a few occasions I’ve raced the sunset to get there in time for the last light, occasionally with the rising full moon in the scene. By now I have a few particular locations where I like to pull over and set up on these lovely evenings.

This view looks along the shore of the upper “corner” of the lake just off of US 395. The shoreline undulates here now that the waterline has dropped from historic levels. (I’m fairly sure that the foreground peninsula was previously under water.) A second peninsula extends into the lake from the Black Point formation, and beyond that lies Negit Island. In the distance, beyond the far shore of this huge lake, lie desert mountains, catching the final sunlight of the day in this photograph.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Windows and Shadows

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Windows and Shadows
The shadows of passing figures on a pair of windows and a wall in Manhattan.

Windows and Shadows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadows of passing figures on a pair of windows and a wall in Manhattan.

This somewhat mysterious-looking photograph comes from a few years back on a visit to New York City. It was late in the day, and we found ourselves wandering along the Highline Park, the elevated park along a portion of the west side of Manhattan. The park wanders past all sorts of Manhattan features — apartments, hotels, businesses, parking, streets, and more. In such places unusual and fleeting lighting effects can occur, some of them as magical as the light I look for in the natural world. Among them is the potential for light to reflect back and forth among multiple reflective surfaces. This often softens the light and directs it into places where you might not expect it. That was the case here, as the light worked its way down into this urban canyon in the same way it does in the red rock canyons of the Southwest.

This photograph also exemplifies why I like to work with small and light cameras in urban environments — rather than using the larger, tripod-mounted gear I often use in the natural landscape. Here things happen quickly, often with little warning, and quickly disappear. Being able to respond quickly is critical, and this ability to work quickly and spontaneously often turns out to be far more important than having larger and objectively “better” gear. The ghostly shadows of the passing figures were gone within seconds.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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