Tag Archives: black and white

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Morning Fog, Rugged Shoreline

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Morning Fog, Rugged Shoreline
Morning fog clears from coastal mountains above the rugged Big Sur shoreline.

Morning Fog, Rugged Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog clears from coastal mountains above the rugged Big Sur shoreline.

This photograph (and a few others from this trip) illustrate how sometimes a combination of planning and luck come together… and even overcome a bad decision or two. I had checked the forecast the previous evening and it looked like there would be fog along the coast, making a quick visit potentially rewarding. I decided that I’d get up early and head that way. But in the morning one thing led to another, and I was quite late (by photographer standards) getting out the door and on the road. I wondered if perhaps I had missed the timing, and I even considered heading somewhere else.

As I approached the coast I saw that the fog was obstinately sticking around, and it was foggier than I had expected! I headed south, looking for places where the fog was beginning to thin, and this was my first serious stop. Here the rugged coast was already clear, but the fog was just offshore and still covering the taller hills, including the far peak above the distant peninsula. I made a few photographs here and then headed on to a few more spots before returning when the light became too harsh. (As I turned around and headed home I noticed that the influx of tourists was just starting… and that the best light and conditions had passed while they were enjoying breakfast!)

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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Mendocino Bay, Morning

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Mendocino Bay, Morning
Waves wash onto the shoreline of Mendocino Bay on a foggy morning.

Mendocino Bay, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Waves wash onto the shoreline of Mendocino Bay on a foggy morning.

Recently I returned to the photographs from this visit to the North Coast of California, on which we spent a few days in Mendocino. This little town presents an interesting dichotomy between the old-school funky, hippiness of that part of the state and the semi-yuppified element that has grown in more recent years. In a sense, you “see it all” in this place.

On this visit we stayed in town, not more than a couple of minutes walk from the bluffs overlooking the bay just south of the peninsula on which the town sits. On this morning we wandered over there in the morning before the morning fog and haze had completely clearer, and I made a series of photographs looking inland along these bluffs to the outlet of the river that drains into the 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.

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Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Closed Fountain

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Closed Fountain
A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

Closed Fountain. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

If it seems like there have been a lot of black and white photographs here recently, well, yes. I’m not certain why that is, but I do know that I began as a black and white photographer, and somehow seeing in monochrome remains at my visual core.

This photograph comes from a visit to a location we visited in order fo photograph a very different sort of subject — a beautiful (mostly) formal garden full of blossoming flowers. We went there after both of us had arrived at that wonderful point two weeks after being fully vaccinated, and it was liberating to wander (masked) through the gardens. However, somehow, among those beautiful and colorful flowers, this is what I came home with! I’m tempted to offer explanations and propose a few metaphors to consider as you view the image, but since I wasn’t really consciously thinking of them when I made the photograph, I’ll just leave the photograph here and let you decide.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dune and Sky

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Dune and Sky
Thin clouds pass above sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Dune and Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thin clouds pass above sand dunes, Death Valley National Park.

These particular sand dunes and I have a kind of fraught relationship. The first time I visited this location was in the middle of winter some years ago. There was one other party there when I arrived, and they soon departed, leaving me to remain overnight in this vast landscape all alone. It was cold, as the higher elevations of the desert can sometimes be. And I had a difficult time finding photographic compositions that pleased me. Somehow I just found it more difficult to photograph this location than some of the others I knew better.

I was back again this spring. I was most certainly not alone this time! I think that the pandemic had enhanced the appeal of remote camping, and there were more than a dozen other parties, some quite large, on the night I was there. Late on the first day it seemed like time to make some photographs, so I loaded up and started walking. However, the wind had other ideas, and the gale was so strong that I wasn’t certain that I’d be able to photograph at all. I finally decided that if I used a relatively wide-angle lens, rather than the long focal lengths I wanted to use, that I might be able to wait for slight decrease in the wind velocity and get things stable enough to make a photograph. In the end, this particular subject and composition was the only one that I was able to complete successfully before the wind drove me back to camp.

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.