Tag Archives: american

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue House, Flag, Holiday Lights

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Blue House, Flag, Holiday Lights
A house with weathered blue paint, an American flag, and holiday lights.

Blue House, Flag, Holiday Lights. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A house with weathered blue paint, an American flag, and holiday lights.

I have frequently written that I often walk out the front door carrying a camera, and during the last two years I’ve been doing a lot of walking in a several mile radius of my home. This takes me through remarkably varied areas — some very old (one might say run-down) homes, apartment complexes, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the area, light industrial areas, new office buildings, urban trails, a small downtown, areas occupied by the unhoused, and more. Needless to say, there is a lot to see — which is fortunate, given the amount of time I’ve spent wandering around here.

It has been noted that photographs often ask questions as much as they make statements, and as I walk around and look at these surroundings quite a few questions arise for me. Take this home for example — a small, older home on the edge of a newer and much wealthier neighborhood. It looks a bit ragged around the edges, but I wonder why? Is the occupant perhaps old and unable to take care of the place? Or perhaps one of the “house rich, cash poor” who bought the place years ago and can no longer afford the upkeep? Is the flag a habit, about simple patriotic feelings, or a statement to the neighbors? What, if anything, are we to make of the holiday lights that are falling off the edge of the roof? What about the small, lonely plant next to the concrete?

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: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

960 Loading Dock

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960 Loading Dock
Loading dock area of a San Francisco building.

960 Loading Dock. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Loading dock area of a San Francisco building.

As life trends slowly back towards a more normal world, I was recently able to join my Studio Nocturne friends (a group of San Francisco Bay Area night photographers) for the resumption of our annual fall “open studio” events in conjunction with the ArtSpan San Francisco Open Studios. The group and its ancestor, The Nocturnes, has shown night photography during this event for a couple of decades. Things were more or less suspended last year, for reasons I hardly need to explain, but this year we were able to offer a very successful open studio event in North Beach, followed by a “pop-up” event in Dogpatch.

So, for the first time in a couple of years, I spent the better part of several full days in San Francisco, showing art, working with my colleagues, talking to visitors about our work. This return to something feeling a bit like the old normal was wonderful. It was also great to once again feel like the life of this city was returning — masked and socially-distanced, yes, but still. The photograph includes the “view” from my location at the pop-up event. As an aside, its composition reminds me of the ubiquitous “chyron” displays on television…

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

American Avocet, Reflection

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American Avocet, Reflection
American Avocet, Reflection

American Avocet, Reflection. San Joaquin Valley, California. February 27, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

American Avocet and reflection, San Joaquin Valley wetlands

I have written before — often! — about the tremendous numbers of birds in California’s Central Valley, especially in the winter when migrating birds overwinter here. It is easy to be most impressed by the birds that are the biggest, the most unusual, those that are found in almost unbelievable numbers, and those whose cries are most striking. Frankly, very few experiences can compete with the sound and fury of many thousands of geese taking to the air at once, the magic of squadrons of cranes gliding in at dusk, the grace and size of the slower-moving egrets and herons, and too many others to list.

I’ve never been the classic “birder” type — the guy with the scope who searches out and identifies any and all birds — though I have become much more sympathetic to the passions of such people as I have spent more time among these remarkable birds! More recently, as I have returned to these places more and more frequently, I have gradually become aware that there are many other birds besides the big, impressive specimens mentioned above. These include individuals such as the hawks and owls, small birds that also live in flocks such as red-winged blackbirds, and a bunch of smaller birds that hang out in and around the water… like the avocet shown here. At one end of a refuge where we frequently photograph there are some quiet ponds along the side of the access road. I rarely see the bigger birds here, but I have recently learned that there is a lot more going on here than initially meets the untrained eye. On one of our recent visits I spent some time photographing avocets against the mostly smooth water in the morning just after the fog had cleared.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Morning Musings

Too Many Utah Photographs? (Morning Musings for 11/12/14)

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Cracked Mud, Canyon Light
Cracked Mud, Canyon Light

Is it possible to come back from a place with too many photographs? If so, I may be testing that boundary over the next month or so.

My recent visit to Utah was very productive, and at the moment I have Utah photographs ready to post “as far as the eye can see.” Actually, to be more specific, through the next month (minus a few other subjects on weekends) already, with another couple of weeks or more of photographs of this subject still open in Photoshop.

This brings up several thoughts:

  • I do not necessarily regard all of the photographs I share on the website and in social media to be “masterpieces” or even my very best work. I do think that at a minimum they are worthy of a look, and I like to post them as part of my own review process. When I (we?) look at my photographs “in secret,” I see them differently than when I share them where others can see them — so this posting is a part of my own review and filtering process. (For those who are interested, they also probably give some insight into how and what I “see.”)
  • With a total of perhaps a month and a half or more of Utah photographs in the pipeline, I have decided to break up that subject a bit by posting completely different material on weekends and by taking one week in December to continue posting the work from my September back-country photography in Yosemite National Park. That’s right… there is still more work from that adventure!
  • If you are the sort who just can’t wait to see what is coming, let me share a secret. Before many of the current social media sites caught on, Flickr was the main place to share photographs online. I’ve been on Flickr for many years, and since I was already there I continued to post work there even after other sites became more popular — and my sharing workflow still begins with uploading to Flickr. So you can see what is coming to this website and to Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, ello, and Pinterest by sneaking a look at my Flickr photostream. Or not. ;-)

As a photographer who has so closely identified his work with California — the Sierra, the coast, the redwoods, the deserts, the Central Valley, and more — I’m still a bit surprised at how much I can “see” in Utah and how much photography I have been able to create there!

(The photograph is a sneak preview of one of those upcoming post— it was made in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument of Utah.)

Morning Musings are somewhat irregular posts in which I write about whatever is on my mind at the moment. Connections to photography may be tenuous at times!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.