Tag Archives: blue

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais

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Woman and Doorways, Le Marais
A women walks past the weatehred front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A women walks past the weathered front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

During the past two years, as the pandemic ebbed and flowed, travel has been more difficult than it was a few years earlier. Even when it has been possible — and we travelled during this period — our activities have been affected and limited by the need to take precautions. One outlet for me has been “virtual travel” via the process of revisiting photographs from trips we made in the “before times.” This photograph comes from an archive of photographs from a visit to Europe back in 2016.

The location is in Le Marais, Paris, an older and historic area of narrow streets and interesting weathering and decay… and a wonderful place to make photographs. I made this photograph on a very productive day when we spent a few hours wandering here. The photograph employs one of my “tricks of the trade” for street, namely finding an interesting urban landscape and then waiting for someone to populate the space. I appreciated the color relationships between the woman’s attire and other elements of the scene, among other things.

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: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Door, Le Marais

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Blue Door, Le Marais
A blue entrance door on a narrow street in Le Marais, Paris

Blue Door, Le Marais. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A blue entrance door on a narrow street in Le Marais, Paris

This is another of the “found it while working on something else” photographs from Paris that I’ve unearthed this past week. I’m writing something about another photograph that I made on this day, and when I went back to look at the original of that photograph and others made around the same time… I was pleasantly distracted by going through a bunch of related photographs.

Like those other photographs, this one comes from Le Marais, a beautiful (and today quite popular) older section of Paris that retains very narrow streets and a time worn character, despite being somewhat gentrified now. There’s a lot to see here, and this is even more true when you carry a camera. Among other things, the beautiful soft light on this bit of old architecture attracted me.

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.

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

Sand Patterns

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Sand Patterns
Varied sand patteres on a fold in dunes at Death Valley National Park.

Sand Patterns. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Varied sand patterns on a fold in dunes at Death Valley National Park.

One of the myths about sand dunes is that their features are in motion, being blown across the landscape by winds. The fact that so many features — ripples, waves — remind us of water reinforces the illusion. But here the fluidity is of a largely static sort, and these features tend to remain in much the same place over long periods of time.

The reasons that dunes come into existence begin to be obvious when ou get to know them. They tend to be in windy places where natural features obstruct, divert, and slow the winds, causing them to drop their load of airborne dust and sand. While these broad features are easy to understand, I remain mystified by the smaller scale features like those seen in this “intimate landscape” photograph — the waves, ridges, valleys, drop-offs that also tend to remain fixed.

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.

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

Desert Mountains, Morning Haze

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Desert Mountains, Morning Haze
Glowing morning haze delineates a series of ascending ridges in desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert Mountains, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Glowing morning haze delineates a series of ascending ridges in desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

Desert haze has become my friend. I used to be frustrated by it — the desert light I wanted was the crisp light of perfectly clear skies. I struggled with haze, with its effects on colors, its lower contrast, and its muted details. (To be honest, sometimes it still challenges me!) But, as is often the case, when I live with something for a while I start to figure out how to see it, and I often end up attracted to it. Now I actively search for just the right kind of soft atmospheric haze.

I had plenty of it on this morning. I was out before dawn, of course, and after finishing with my initial early morning subject I traveled to a higher location with immense and panoramic views of the landscape. The bright light beyond these mountains was making the haze luminous and almost eliminating fine details, leaving the outlines of the successive ridges receding toward the morning sky.

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.