Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky

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Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky
“Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky” — Cloud-filled skies above the St. Madeleine Sophie Barat Roman Catholic Church in Trona, California

This is not the first time I have photographed this striking desert church, and isn’t even the only photograph of the subject from my visit to this area earlier this year. Trona is a small, hard-scrabble town in the desert between Ridgecrest and Death Valley. It is build around extraction industries, primarily based on “mining” the mineral deposits left behind when water evaporates from nearly Searles Lake. It is a tough place, full of abandoned buildings, and terribly hot at times.

The church has caught my attention for years as I’ve passed through on my way to Death Valley. It is one of the most unusual Catholic churches I have seen. Its construction seems entirely utilitarian, and its shape is notable blocky and square. There’s nothing colorful or soaring about its structure. This all seems fitting in this harsh environment. On this visit I paused to photograph it again, this time with an impressive cloud-filled sky from a departing late-winter storm.

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

Coastal Layers

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Coastal Layers
“Coastal Layers” — Stratified and eroded rock formations along the California coast at Point Lobos.

All of the other photograph s that I made in this location at Point Lobos turned out to be color images, but I decided that I wanted to use monochrome for this one. There were several reasons. There’s an old “rule” about using monochrome when subject’s colors aren’t its main feature, and that was the case here, at least in this light. In addition, I felt that black and white might better abstract the forms of these eroded coastal rocks.

It is a fascinating formation, partly for what it is and partly for how it has evolved. This layered rock apparently underlies the low headlands here, and the end of the formation has been exposed by ocean erosion. (Below this spot is a cove, while above it is a grassy headland.) As the erosion continues it exposes remarkable patterns in the underlying rock. much of it is a sort of familiar sandstone that has colors similar to those in the American Southwest, but interspersed are layers of pebble-filled conglomerate and, here and there, some surprising bits of 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint

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Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint
“Leaf, Stone, Weathered Paint” — A leaf lies on a stone sidewalk marked with weathered paint, Hakone Gardens.

This photograph was most certainly not the thing I came here to photograph. We went to the Hakone Japanese Gardens this spring, timing our visit for the peak of the cherry blossom season, and arriving in the late afternoon so that we could photograph these and many other blossoms on into the evening. Photographing old and worn out steps and dead leaves was not the main goal!

As we walked some of the hillier paths the route followed a series of old stone steps. It appeared that at one time some of the steps may have been coated with paint — red in some spots and yellow in others. But that paint was apparently not renewed, and today there are just scattered bits of it here and there on the rocks.. The single dead leave seemed to evoke a feeling quite at odds with the spring theme we were there for.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Half Submerged

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Half Submerged
“Half Submerged” — The salt playa of Death Valley partially submerged under the shallow waters of Manly Lake.

Part of what I love about this subject is how hard it is initially to understand exactly what we are looking at. (I wonder what you thought it was at first?) My first impression, at least when looking at small versions, is of sky and clouds. It is only when I look more closely that I realize that it is not that at all — it is the playa of Death Valley, where salt flats are partially submerged beneath the water of Lake Manly.

We usually direct our eyes parallel to the ground or perhaps upwards when we view the landscape. But on those occasions when we can look down at it from a distance we see it in a very different light. Features that are barely, if at all, visible from down below become the major points of interest. (There’s a lot more to see in this scene than first meets the eye.) And all of this is enhanced by the subjective feelings that come with looking out from any very high vantage point.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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