Tag Archives: bay

Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral
The interior of the Salzburg Cathedral.

Salzburg Cathedral. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The interior of the Salzburg Cathedral.

This photograph comes from the same trip that produced the recent photograph of mountain landscape in Bavaria. It turns out that the latter location (in the Berchtesgaden area) is very close to the German/Austrian border, and Salzburg is just on the other side of that border… and Salzburg is where we arrived and departed by train. In the end, despite staying in Bavaria we ended up spending considerable time in Salzburg, the location of this famous and remarkable Baroque-style cathedral.

I’ll use this photograph as an excuse to share a bit about my approach to travel photography. Nearly a decade ago I stopped carrying large cameras and big lenses when I travel, instead using a smaller system with (mostly) relatively small prime lenses. We travel light, preferring to limit ourselves to carry-on luggage, and this approach helps achieve that goal. The smaller and lighter gear also, I think, improves my travel photography. I’m less weighed down by bags of heavy equipment, and I look less like “tourist photographer,” which may let me work without attracting as much attention. This photograph was made using a small 14mm prime lens on a APS-C camera, shooting handheld.


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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Bluffs, Surf, and Haze

Bluffs, Surf, and Haze
Thin fog obscures distant views beyond coastal bluffs and waves along the Pacific Coast of California.

Bluffs, Surf, and Haze. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin fog obscures distant views beyond coastal bluffs and waves along the Pacific Coast of California.

The scenes like this one that I photograph, visit and revisit… the more clear is the contrast between their timeless nature and the way we live our lives. This photograph comes from over almost a decade ago — which either feels like a very short time or a very long time right now — but it could have come from virtually any time in the past. There’s nothing obvious in it to link to any particular time.

The scene likely feels familiar to anyone who lives near or visits locations where coastal flatlands run up against the edge of the continent. The sea eventually wins the inevitable battle, and in the process produces a stark contrast between gentle, flat bluffs and the cliffs at their edges, which drop precipitously into the ocean and leave behind sea stacks and small islands. On this evening the sea was rather quiet and a thin fog was beginning to obscure distant views.


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

Point Reyes, Clearing Fog

Point Reyes, Clearing Fog
Morning fog clears aove the hills and bays of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Point Reyes, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog clears aove the hills and bays of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Living in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the Point Reyes National Seashore is merely a longish day trip for me. I haven’t been there since the onset of the pandemic, but in more normal times I make up there during every season of the year — mostly to photograph, but also to see the elephant seals, to escape inland heat… and to stop for morning pasty and coffee at Point Reyes Station.

The park mostly wraps itself along and around Drakes Bay, with the “point” being the furthest terminus of a long peninsula extending into the Pacific Ocean. To make this photograph I stopped near the base of that peninsula and drove up a narrow road toward a high point on the ridge that runs roughly parallel to Tomales Bay. From here I could look across nearby tree-covered hills, past the lower rolling hills, over Drakes Estero, and toward Point Reyes, barely visible in the thinning morning fog.


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.

Bay Reflections, Morning

Bay Reflections, Morning
Bronze morning light reflects on the surface of San Francisco Bay and silhouettes Alcatraz and Treasure Islands.

Bay Reflections, Morning. © Copyright 2013 Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bronze morning light reflects on the surface of San Francisco Bay and silhouettes Alcatraz and Treasure Islands.

Happy New Year! Let’s start 2021 with a sunrise. 2020 was a year we all want to put behind us as soon as possible — to move on as a country, to get through the worst of this pandemic and see vaccines take effect, to travel again, to see friends and relatives in person, to eat out and go to concerts and, all in all, perhaps find a bit of normalcy once again. So, perhaps the best wish is: Happier New Year!

The photograph is of San Francisco Bay, photographed not long after sunrise on a very early spring morning a few years ago. The conditions were a bit unusual — prevalent thin fog rather than the more typical strands of the stuff. I photographed directly toward the rising sun, capturing the metallic colors and textures of the Bay waters along with Alcatraz Island, Treasure Island, and the far shores of the East Bay.


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 | FacebookEmail

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


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