Tag Archives: california

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Five Days in Death Valley – and (Almost) Back to Civilization

January 6, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Just a quick update. I’ve been in Death Valley for the past five days, photographing this, that, and the other thing. I left Eureka Valley Dunes at about 9:00 a.m. this morning, and I’ve made it as far as Bishop, California. Where they have espresso. Did I mention the espresso? :-)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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: Northern California

Winter Tree

January 6, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A winter-dormant tree is backlit by morning sun in the grasslands of the Calero Hills, California.

This tree and I are old friends at this point. (If you were to snoop around enough at my web site you might find other photographs of the same tree.) It is at a local county park where I have hiked for many years, and it is not far from the parking lot at the park, sitting on the far side of a small pond and somewhat inaccessible. So I almost always pass it at the start of any hike there, and I have photographed it in just about any conditions that you can imagine: summer heat, morning, evening, fog…

I hadn’t been there for a while, but I managed to find time for a short hike on Christmas Eve day this year. The trail approaches the small pond near the tree by ascending up a very shallow valley. There are thick reeds growing around the pond, and often an egret can be found at the lake. With that possibility in mind, I usually approach the pond slowly and quietly and often with my long lens already on the camera. I did so on this day… but no egret! The water level was very low after a fall season with almost no rain, so there were few birds there at all. But at just about the time I arrived the sun was beginning to peak over a nearby hill and it was back-lighting this tree against the still shaded grass-covered hillside beyond.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bench and Cinder Block Wall

January 5, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A bench, chained to the sidewalk, in front of a cinder block wall with male/female symbols.

This is one of “those” photographs – it probably completely baffles many who like my landscape and nature photography… and perhaps a few others as well. ;-)

I’m not quite sure why I wanted to photograph this little scene. The color palette, mostly fairly drab except for the pink circle, seemed a bit different. The almost random gender symbols (as much of them as you can see) on the wall behind the bench seem odd and surprising. (There was probably once a shop in this building that was connected to that sign, but it is no longer there.) If we want to get philosophical – and why not? – the juxtaposition of an unoccupied bench with those symbols could be read in a variety of ways, and the fact that the bench is cabled to the ground is also interesting. In any case, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

“Feel Better”

January 3, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A barber “pole” with the words “Feel Better” and a hand painted laundry sign on the exterior wall of a dilapidated building, San Jose, California.

Another photograph made while wandering about in my neighborhood. These signs are on the side of a very old and very dilapidated little wood-sided building that houses a barber shop and a cleaners. The building is leaning so badly and on such uneven ground that it is a wonder that it is still standing and that the city still allows people to occupy it. Yet, it seems like the two businesses inside, which give the appearance of having been there a long time, continue to hang on.

The crazily tilting, off-kilter walls along the side of the building first caught my attention, so I went around to the side to make some photographs of this wall. Once I got closer I was intrigued by the barber “pole” (or the cheapest imaginable imitation of the real thing, nailed to the wall) with its odd label, “FEEL BETTER” near the bottom. The hand-painted sign for the cleaners was also interesting. Today it seems like most business signs have been extruded at the same business sign factory, and they often share a uniform slickness and lack of individual character. Not true of this sign! I looks like perhaps the owner painted it himself or herself, and that this person had just enough painting skill to pull it off, but not so much as to be overly slick, to put it mildly. The oddly spaces hand-lettering and the “personalized” paintings of suits hanging on hangars are not the sort of thing you usually see in this area, but they do have a certain charm.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: california

Five Days in Death Valley – and (Almost) Back to Civilization

Winter Tree

Bench and Cinder Block Wall

“Feel Better”

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