Tag Archives: california

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Light on Rocks, Tuolumne River

November 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light shines on granite slabs along the Tuolumne River as afternoon clouds dissipate behind nearby peaks

As I post it in November, this photograph takes me back to a wonderful Sierra trip last summer. I spent a few days in July camped at Tuolumne Meadows, doing a bit of hiking and a lot of photography. Each morning and evening I was out with the camera, in the meadows or somewhere else along Tioga Road. Although it was the fourth summer of California drought in the Sierra — a drought that did serious damage to the Sierra environment — on these July days it was almost possible to not think about that. There had been rain and it was the green time of year in the high country.

One evening I went out, this time by vehicle, to look for subjects. I had only a vague idea of some general things to photograph back along Tioga Pass Road, so I was easily distracted by anything that happened to catch my attention. Before I even left the Meadows I caught sight of some trees that were lit in an interesting way, so I turned around, drove back, and pulled out along the road. There were other cars there already and I hoped my sudden arrival didn’t annoy anyone, but I quickly saw a pair of photography friends at one of the vehicles. After exchanging greetings we decided to hear across the meadow together. By the time we got to the other side yet another couple of photography friends showed up! Mind you, none of this was planned. We all teamed up and spent a beautiful evening among friends making photographs along the Tuolumne.

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

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

Exit, Yellow Doors, Blue Windows

November 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Exit sign above doors to outside area illuminated by dusk light

After meeting up with my fellow night photographers (associated with The Nocturnes, the long-standing San Francisco night photography community) to share photographs and pizza, we all got ready to head out into the night as darkness came on. After the social time I began to get myself into the rather different frame of mind necessary to photographing this subject. Before I even left the building I began to look around inside, and I decided to walk slowly into some corners of this facility that I had not looked at before. As I did I found myself in a bit of a dead-end spot where this door, lit by indoor artificial lighting, let to the developing twilight on the other side.

I associate a number of things with photographing at night. Of course, subjects often take on a very different appearance at night, and rather prosaic subjects can acquire a feeling of mystery. In practical terms, I’m absolutely fascinated by this world that is illuminated by lighting that is far more varied than what we typically see in daylight. Rather that more or less one kind of lighting, there could be many — the blues of twilight, the daylight-like color balance of moonlight, the wild colors of artificial light from tungsten, sodium vapor, fluorescent and other kinds of light. But beyond all of that, I associate the sense of profound stillness and quite with this kind of photography, where I frequently stand alone in dark and quiet places for many minutes as I wait for exposures to complete.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chinatown Street Scene

November 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tourists on the sidewalk in front of a brightly lit souvenir shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown district

Another evening in San Francisco, another photograph of people walking along the sidewalk in front of a Chinatown shop. These are becoming something of a theme, or so it seems. I’m not exactly certain where I made this one, but I feel like it might not have been along the main tourist area of Grant Street — but I’m prepared to be wrong.

My approach is to look for good light first and to then find a composition and people to fill it. Some interesting elements, like the stairway at the right, are nice, too. I’m always looking for spots where light spills onto the sidewalk, offering the potential to illuminate passers-by when they enter the scene. It is even better if street lights or the lights of another shop provide just a bit of front light to fill in the shadows. Aside from the way that all of the people managed to position themselves across the frame, I think I owe the woman to choose to wear the red dress on this evening.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

A Dark Corner

November 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A pathway ends at a dead end and cement walls, night photography at Mare Island

Since I have photographed on this sprawling decommissioned ship yard for over a decade, I’m now more and more on the lookout for new subjects and locations there. Somehow I always seem to find them by poking around in (literally!) odd, dark corners. A first time visitor to the ship yard is most likely to be captivated by some of the larger and iconic subjects — the cranes, the old architecture, the tower at the old power plant, and more. But eventually one finds things missed on earlier visits.

I worked my way toward this odd little corner bit by bit. I first stopped to look at the front of a building that I not really spent much time with in the past. Near its front entrance I found a stairway leading up toward a dark terrace above. At first I spent some time making photograph of the stairs. Over the course of long exposures my eyes adapted to the darkness and I began to become aware of other shapes and textures and qualities of light nearby. The light in such places at night is often tremendously varied, coming from almost every kind of lightning imaginable. Sodium vapor lamps glow with an intense yellow color, led light can appear almost like daylight, fluorescent lamps can be greenish, and the glow of the city of Vallejo across the water has a reddish-brown quality. Here an overhead light sent beams of slightly blue-green light downwards, almost parallel to the surface of the concrete walls. That light from the town across the water found its way to these walls too, turning the close wall on the left an intense red-brown color and lending a faint glow to the back wall.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: california

Light on Rocks, Tuolumne River

Exit, Yellow Doors, Blue Windows

Chinatown Street Scene

A Dark Corner

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.