Tag Archives: america

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sandstone, Light and Shadow

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Sandstone, Light and Shadow
“Sandstone, Light and Shadow” — Early morning sunlight accentates the color of a Utah sandstone cliff.

The idea here was to get “up close and personal” with a small section of a monumental sandstone tower standing in the early morning sunlight. To make the photograph I turned away from the conventional scenic landscape I had been focusing on, using a long lens to focus on an area where features projecting from the wall were casting shadows back onto it.

Southwest sandstone is often impressive simply because of its color variation. I’ve commented before on how “my” California granite inevitably looks very… gray after I return from a visit to Utah. But in some places, such as here at Arches National Park, it isn’t just that the sandstone’s coloration is attractive, it is also that the strata of red rock are so thick and extensive.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Hillside

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Autumn Hillside
“Autumn Hillside” — A Utah hillside with autum color from aspens and brush.

The range of colors in this photograph reminds me a little bit — but only a little bit — of the widely diverse autumn colors of New England forests. It is a bit subtler, with lots of softer tones, ranging from the marginal coloration of some of the green plants to the ghostly quality of the leafless brush in the foreground.

The location would usually be considered unremarkable. In fact, we ended up here more or less by accident. While driving a better known route through part of Utah I saw a gravel side road and spontaneously decided to see where it led. We started in a beautiful aspen grove, then climbed up and around a large ridge to west-facing slopes, where we found this autumn color.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Dormant Wetlands Plants

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Dormant Wetlands Plants
“Dormant Wetlands Plants” — Dormant and dried wetlands plants reflected in the still water of a quiet pond.

My first “real” visit of the season to my favorite migratory bird photography location did not go as planned. (Actually, I did stop briefly a month ago and a half earlier, but things were still slow back then.) I was hoping for luminous tule fog and lots of geese and sandhill cranes. Instead I got thick gray elevated overcast and fewer birds than expected. Ah, well, it happens… and when it does I look for something else to photograph.

This is one of the “something else” photographs. This area is full of shallow seasonal ponds, and when they fill the summer’s plants still emerge from the still water and make fascinating reflections. For this subject the very soft light from the overcast worked well and revealed a more of the plants’ details.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Travel

Bean People

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Bean People
“Bean People” — Visitors in front of and reflected in the surface of “Cloud Gate” (aka “The Bean”) in Chicago.

The “Cloud Gate” sculpture is an icon in Chicago. Located in Millennium Park, it attracts hoards of visitors. I’ve been there more than once, and I encountered crowds each time — including on this rather cold November day. It seems that no one can resist interacting with their distorted reflection!

We had wandered through less crowded parts of the park — and those were easy to find in the cold weather. We saw beautiful rows of trees, some shedding autumn leaves, and then walked out to the Lake Michigan shoreline. We headed back into the more popular areas of the park looking for something warm to drink and paused for a few minutes at “Cloud Gate” to see the object and, perhaps even more, watch the people.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.