Tag Archives: artist

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: People, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Busker, Lisbon

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Busker, Lisbon
A street musician stands in front of a wall near the St. George Castle, Lisbon.

Busker, Lisbon. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A street musician stands in front of a wall near the St. George Castle, Lisbon.

As I have mentioned, we like to walk when visiting cities, and we did a lot of that when we were in Lisbon this summer. Like many European (and the centers of some American) cities, the place is really quite walkable, though we did deal with some hot temperatures… and, of course, the famous hills of this city. The hills figured in this photograph and some others I made on this morning. We decided to go to the area of the St. George Castle. (We did not go in the castle grounds — we explored nearby instead.) We walked… and we bypassed the tempting options to get driven up the hill. This was a lot more work, but we also saw a lot more than we would have if we let someone carry us up there!

We wandered various narrow streets in the upper areas of the hill where the castle is located. At one point I came upon this solo busker, setting up to perform in a place that seemed unlikely to see all that many tourists. It was kind of out of the way, against a wall where a road more or less ended — and, if I recall correctly, we were about the only people around. I slipped a few euros into his basket and make a few photographs, including this one.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Ranges

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Desert Ranges
A view from the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley toward mountains near Las Vegas.

Desert Ranges. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A view from the Panamint Mountains across Death Valley toward mountains near Las Vegas.

This is another in the “very long views” series. Like another recent photograph, it also comes from the crest of the Panamint Mountains, though this time looking generally east. As such, the view extends across Death Valley (over 6000 feet below), then over the Black Mountains, the Amargosa Range, and across the Amargosa Valley to a snow-capped ridge close to Las Vegas, Nevada. (in the full size version of this photograph remarkable details become visible — a parking lot near Artist Palette, utility poles along the road out of Death Valley.)

There is a bit of a story about the lighting in this scene. It is essentially front-lit, with the light coming from behind my camera position and shining directly on the subject. Typically, this would be about the worst kind of lighting for a landscape subject, especially when haze is present, since it produces almost no shadows and very little visibility of details. But here something compensates, namely the shadows of broken clouds which introduce some shadows into the scene and help us sense its depth.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Mountains and Wash, Evening

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Desert Mountains and Wash, Evening
The last of the day’s light illuminates a wash descending though desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains and Wash, Evening. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The last of the day’s light illuminates a wash descending though desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

This feels like a “quiet photograph” to me — a desert scene that appears to be almost entirely static. In fact, one of the most powerful desert experiences I have had in the desert comes from moments in lonely, quiet places where it seems that nothing is moving and that it has been that way for a very long while. It is as close to the feeling of time stopping as we’re likely to experience.

The truth is that I made this photograph in a location that is not exactly quiet and still. Very close to my position there were dozens of people lined up to photograph one of the icons of Death Valley. (This particular icon is interesting but not photographically compelling to me, but as I mentioned in another recent post… my perspective can change!) The photograph illustrates another useful idea in photography, that when you are faced with an obvious subject it is still good to look around at all of the other things that might be worthy of your attention.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Canyon, Evening Light

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Desert Canyon, Evening Light
Evening light shines into a very rugged and colorful desert canyon.

Desert Canyon, Evening Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light shines into a very rugged and colorful desert canyon.

Late in the afternoon the light was dying quickly. Clouds were coming in from the north and creating a lid across most of the sky. We saw a bit of sunlight on the desert floor to the south, so we drove in that direction, hoping to get there before that light also was lost. Unfortunately, as we got closer that light also began to be cut off by the clouds and by the mountains to the west, as the lowering sun reached the summit ridge.

Looking up at those mountains, it appeared that there was a thin spot in the clouds a bit north of our position, so we took one more chance and now headed back to the north. The potential was there for a few moments of light as the sun emerged from behind those clouds, shining through the thinner clods, and casting soft but directional light on this area of colorful geology. Sure enough, as soon as we arrived in this area that soft sunlight appeared. We knew we had only a short time to work before the sun dropped behind the mountains again, and the wind was blowing like crazy, so simply made a few careful handheld exposures as the light shining into this colorful canyon peaked.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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