Tag Archives: blue

Made of Sky

Made of Sky
Reflections in the windows of the One Front Street Building, San Francisco.

Made of Sky. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflections in the windows of the One Front Street Building, San Francisco.

Perhaps a decade ago I noticed that urban walkers, especially those from out of town, were adopting a new posture on big city streets. Many tended to walk along with heads forward and angled down, staring intently at smartphones, either reading messages or perhaps trying to navigate using the phone’s map application. In a previous era the popular image of the out-of-town visitor to the “big city” was that of someone walking along a sidewalk, oblivious to other walkers, and staring upwards toward the tops of the tall buildings. I have a phone. I use it. But I still gaze upwards.

I have photographed this building quite a few times during my San Francisco Walks. It is an interesting building in general, but if you get up close the “open books” (climbers term…) of glass produce remarkable patterns of overlapping reflected patterns, all colored blue by the sky. To make this photograph I got about as close to the building as I could while still including some lower floors and the top of the building.


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.

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Blue Building, Evening

Blue Building, Evening
Blue building and unusual plants in evening light, Mendocino, California

Blue Building, Evening. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blue building and unusual plants in evening light, Mendocino, California

This very blue building stands along a narrow road near the edge of a small Northern California coastal town that we visit from time to time. Late in the afternoon, as evening approached, I was out walking when I saw the building with very low angle, early evening light on these striking plants.

I look forward to the time when we can again travel to such places and spend days walking around slowly, not worrying about distance and masks and whether it is safe to stay nearby or eat at the restaurants. The fact that those things are inaccessible right now makes me hope that we appreciate them more once they come back into our lives.


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.

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

Mono Morning

Mono Morning
Morning light and hazy atmosphere above Mono Lake.

Mono Morning. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and hazy atmosphere above Mono Lake.

Mono Lake is, of course, particularly known for the tufa formations found along its shoreline and in the close-in shallow waters. These remarkable features were formed underwater and revealed as the lake’s water level dropped. (By looking at the surrounding hills you can observe evidence of much higher prehistoric water levels. ) The lake also affords dramatic views of the steep eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

All of these things appeal to me, but they are not what I most associate with the place, namely its vast expanse of stillness and quiet. The scale of the Mono Basin dwarfs the peaks to the west, quite honestly, though you have to slow down a bit more before its stillness gets to you. I think I most like the morning hours, when the air is often still, and when the morning sun can make the atmosphere luminous.


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.

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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.

Sculpted Sandstone

Sculpted Sandstone
Detail of a section of eroded sandstone cliff at Arches National Park.

Sculpted Sandstone. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of a section of eroded sandstone cliff at Arches National Park.

To be honest, I’m not sure I could find this bit of sandstone cliff again if I went back to Arches National Park and looked for it. I think I have a vague idea of where it was, but if I’m correct it was just one small section of a much larger wall that ran for a significant distance. But isn’t that part of the challenge of the red rock country, that there are so many impressive and fascinating walls with unending variations of color and form?

The basic shapes of the rock walls, arches, buttresses, and ridges are fascinating in their own right. But the surface textures of the rock are immensely varied and interesting. The blue material coats these rocks in many places, and it can outline erosion patters in the rock. There are vertical lines everywhere, formed by water oozing, dripping, flowing, and occasionally flooding across the faces. And the color can vary from hour to hour as the angle and quality of the sunlight change, and as light reflected from other red rock surfaces intensifies the color.


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 | 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.