Tag Archives: bright

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned, Rio Dell

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Abandoned, Rio Dell
An abandoned building in the twon of Rio Dell, California.

Abandoned, Rio Dell. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned building in the twon of Rio Dell, California.

On this last full day of our recent visit to the far Northern California coast we took a long drive through varied terrain out along a section of the so-called Lost Coast. While the mileage would have made for a one-hour urban drive on almost any California freeway (at least if it weren’t rush hour), the nature and condition of the roadway, along with the need to stop to look and make photographs, turned this into a full-day affair.

This is a very different California than what we see in the Bay Area, Southern California, or even the Central Valley for that matter. Most of the area is quite rural, and the effects of over a year of pandemic isolation are clear in small communities with many closed businesses. (Though a new business, one based on certain formerly-illegal agricultural products, seems to be thriving in some of the backwoods areas.) We came back to US 101, the main through-route, near here and decided to stop of coffee in the small town of Rio Dell. As we left town this building caught my eye. I’m guessing that it was originally a gas station before being turned into something else and then more or less abandoned. But what a paint job!

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: Abstract, Photographs: Nature

Succulent Leaves

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Succulent Leaves
Patterns formed by the bright edges of succulent leaves.

Succulent Leaves. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns formed by the bright edges of succulent leaves.

This image comes from 2013, and was made in a sort of off-hand manner on a family visit to San Diego. (Off the top of my head, I can’t actually recall exactly where I photographed it, though it may have been at Balboa Park.) Indeed, it is another photograph that emerges from my pandemic review of my archives of old raw files.

Photographs like this one are both fun and challenging, at least in my experience. Like many photographers, I’m intrigued by forms, shapes, curves as abstract things, and they often underly photographs that seem to be about more obvious content. The opportunity to work with subjects where these elements of shape are almost the entirely of the image is hard to resist. It also almost always (again in my personal experience) turns out to be harder than I think it will be. More often than not, when I first see such a subject I am certain that it will work… but as I begin to actually make the image small things interfere with what I’m looking for. In this case, I do like the result, and I enjoy trying to see the pattern of the bright leaf edges as their own abstract form.

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: Pandemia, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bench and Wall

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Bench and Wall
Postcard from Pandemia: bench and wall.

Bench and Wall. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Postcard from Pandemia: bench and wall.

From the “Postcards from Pandemia” series, another photograph made on one of my neighborhood walk circuits. This route takes me past a location that I knew very well when I was much younger, and when I visit now it evokes thoughts about time — how some things have changed a lot while others have changed not at all.

In normal times I probably have not been able to approach this bench at this time of day without raising suspicions and concerns, especially when carrying a camera and making photographs. But the entire area was empty since the shelter-in-place orders had closed it down.

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.

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

Morning, Fog, Surf

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Morning, Fog, Surf
Bright morning light illuminates fog along the Big Sur coast as storm surf runs up against the cliffs

Morning, Fog, Surf. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bright morning light illuminates fog along the Big Sur coast as storm surf runs up against the cliffs

The fog/mist in this photograph doesn’t come from the usual source. Typically, along this section of California’s Big Sur coastline, fog rolls in from the ocean in big, fluffy, low-level clouds. That fog is a dark, damp, gray thing, and — with the exception of the moments while it is clearing — it generally does not let in much light. The “fog” in this photograph, which might more accurately be called mist or spray, comes from gigantic waves from a winter storm breaking along the coast in windy conditions. It is the waves themselves that throw up this mist, and on this day of surf up to 40 feet high, there was plenty of it.

The photograph could also serve as an example of looking away from the most obvious thing. The location is at or just before a very popular and iconic stopping place along the Coast Highway in the Big Sur region. In fact, a good number of people making a quick trip down from the north may choose this spot as their turn-around point. I won’t mention what that iconic subject is, but I did not photograph it on this morning. Instead, I stopped a bit before the throng and pointed my lens in a different direction, down toward a familiar beach lying at the base of huge shoreline cliffs. The beach isn’t visible — the giant waves were so strong that they ran all the way up the sand to the base of the cliff. I decided on a high key interpretation of this scene in order to reveal the glowing backlight coming down across the cliff from above.

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.