Tag Archives: columns

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants

October 12, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn plants and lichen lend color to basalt columns, Devils Postpile National Monument

Quite honestly, this photograph was at least partially the product of laziness! We were recently in the eastern Sierra Nevada for a few (more) days of autumn color photography. We had driven up late the previous day, and by the time we got settled in to our lodgings the idea of getting up again at “oh-dark-thirty” to head out and make dawn photographs was not appealing. Rather than overtly cop out, we sort of agreed to maybe not set alarms and instead just sort of see when we might wake up. Needless to say, on the morning after a very long drive that ended late at night… we did not get up at the crack of dawn! In fact, we wandered out for breakfast at perhaps 7:30 or so, and only then returned to our room to get ready for photography.

With no prior planning at all, we made a more or less spontaneous decision to visit Devils Postpile National Monument, which was convenient to our lodgings at Mammoth Lakes. I’ve been in that area many times, but always in conjunction with backpacking trips, and most of those simply headed out from Agnew Meadow. We finally got down there in the middle of the morning. It turns out that this is actually a very good time to photograph this geological structure, as the sun is behind it, producing beautiful soft shaded light on the details of the basalt columns. To make a series of photographs from which this image comes, I used a very long lens, which allowed me to isolate and compose photographs out of small areas of the much larger wall of basalt columns. (Update — December 2015: Patty Emerson Mitchell reminds me that I almost left my camera in the car on this morning, claiming that I was really just there to let her see this location!)

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

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

Courtyard Window Reflections

April 19, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Curving window reflects the courtyard of the Getty Center

This curving wall of tinted windows is a favorite subject of mine at the Getty — I have photographed it several times, in fog and rain, with people in front of it, with people behind, and the structure alone. People often move across the courtyard area in front of it on their way to other places, so I can catch people in motion against this background. In fact, one other series from this visit includes a child jumping and hopping his way across. Frequently people will appear momentarily between the columns leading into the distance at the right, too.

This was a very clear day, so the light is crisp and the reflections are very visible in the curving glass. The color of the glass almost reminds me of the water of a swimming pool, and I wonder if the architects thought about this when they designed this aquarium-like rounded building with its many windows.

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: Southern California

Patio, Rain and Fog

March 4, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Diners at an outdoor eating area at the Getty Center.

This is a photograph from about five years ago, when we spent a rainy and foggy winter day at the Getty Center in Southern California. When one thinks of the Los Angeles area, more typically the thoughts are of sunshine and warm temperatures, but this winter day was not at all like that. It was not warm, and the constant light to moderate rain also included foggy conditions at this ridge-top location. The design of the Getty buildings and the grounds has fascinated me for a long time, and this provided a new way to see the place.

At about the time I made this photograph, quite a few people were seeking shelter from the wind and rain in this outdoor covered courtyard area where the upper room section appears to be supported by tremendously tall and thing columns clad in rock.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Penn Station Subway Platform

December 27, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Subway tracks and a few people on the platform, Penn Station

There is not a whole lot to say about this photograph, though I might tell a technical secret about it.

The photograph is obviously from the New York Subway system, shot underground with available light at a relatively quiet time between trains while we were waiting for the next one to arrive. I shot this in street photography mode, during a week when I did not once use a tripod or a remote release, and when I shot entirely with a small handheld camera while on foot. I probably don’t have the point out that this photograph could be “about” several things: the small family group sitting on the bench and waiting for their train, the light and colors of the underground station, and the geometry of the structures and tracks.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: columns

Basalt Columns, Lichen, Autumn Plants

Courtyard Window Reflections

Patio, Rain and Fog

Penn Station Subway Platform

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