Tag Archives: county

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Broken Branches

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Broken Branches
Broken Branches

Broken Branches. Yosemite National Park, California. September 18, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The broken branches of a fallen tree on the ground in the back-country of Yosemite National Park.

These branches belong to what is left of a tree that fell in the area around our campsite in the north east section of the back-country of Yosemite National Park. On a couple of mornings during the time we were there doing photography, I began my morning by wandering a bit through this section of forest, meadow, and dried-up ponds, looking for whatever little miniature landscapes I might find.

Dried and broken branches of fallen and dead trees intrigue me, though they can make very difficult subjects to photograph. Light and color are tricky – too much light and it is difficult to get shadow detail without washing out the highlights; too little light and the subject can go flat and pick up blue tones. And sometimes the patterns are so complex and disorganized as to nearly defy my efforts to make any sort of compositional sense out of them.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Rocky Shores, Subalpine Lake

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Rocky Shores, Subalpine Lake
Rocky Shores, Subalpine Lake

Rocky Shores, Subalpine Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 18, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening light slants across the rocky shoreline of a sub-alpine back-country lake, Yosemite National Park.

Late in the afternoon on this mid-September day, when the calendar says summer but the surroundings say autumn, we walked cross-country from the lake where we were camped up to the next higher lake in the drainage, following the stream through forest and then sub-alpine meadows to arrive at the outlet of the higher lake in the early evening light. This has been a somewhat unusual year in the Sierra, with late and heavier than normal snowfall, and cool temperatures that maintained the snowpack late into the season, and there were still patches of snow all the way down to the lake’s rocky shoreline. (For scale, if you look really close near the lower right “corner” of the large snow field, you might be able to make out a small spot that is one of my fellow photographers. Hi, Mike!)

I worked this little shoreline clump of rocks to death – I started here shortly after we arrived, and I continued to shoot in more or less this spot until the light faded to the point that we had to start our return hike in order to get back to camp before it was completely dark. This specific spot had a lot to offer, not all of which is visible in this photograph. Along the near shore at my feet there was a little bit of shoreline meadow with grasses, heather, and a few blooming plants and interrupted by these light-colored granite rocks and slabs set at odd angles. Beyond was the water of the lake, transparent and shallow enough that some underwater rocks were visible, and also reflecting the snow, talus fields, and ridges on the far side. I especially like the quality of light at this subtle interval between the “normal” daytime light and the very warm-colored light that comes a bit later. Here the light begins to soften a bit and the color warms slightly, but not so much that the colors are obvious.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

San Francisco Skyline, Pre-Dawn Sky

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San Francisco Skyline, Pre-Dawn Sky
San Francisco Skyline, Pre-Dawn Sky

San Francisco Skyline, Pre-Dawn Sky. San Francisco, California. December 10, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pre-dawn sky begins to light the skyline of San Francisco, California.

While at San Francisco’s Crissy Field to photograph the lunar eclipse over the Golden Gate Bridge I realized that this unusual celestial phenomenon was by no means the only worthy subject at this early morning hour. Meanwhile, there was a beautiful and mysterious sunrise developing in the eastern sky beyond the City and over the East Bay, enhanced by a lot of atmospheric haze. (This was the same haze that ultimately caused the eclipsed moon to fade to invisibility shortly after the sky began to lighten.) So, while 99% of the photographers were still pointing their lenses west, I (along with a few other folks) pointed east and toward this section of the San Francisco skyline in roughly the Knob Hill and Russian Hill areas, with the familiar shape of the Transamerica pyramid partially hidden behind closer buildings and some typical San Francisco neighborhood buildings and trees up close at the bottom.

Yet again, this scene reinforced the idea that it is always important to look around at the whole scene. It is so easy to become completely focused on the single subject that you started out with – and sometimes this is a good thing! – that you may overlook other worthy subjects in other directions. I still have to remind myself sometimes to look up and scan my surroundings to see what else might be worth photographing.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Red Wing Blackbird, Fence Post

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Red Wing Blackbird, Fence Post
Red Wing Blackbird, Fence Post

Red Wing Blackbird, Fence Post. Calero Hills, California. April 18, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A redwing blackbird pauses atop a fence post in front of central California oak/grassland, Calero County Park.

Photographed on the same morning as another recent shot of this same type of bird, the bright red upper wings of this redwind blackbird provide a striking contrast to its jet black body. This bird was on a fence surrounding an old manmade pond at the Calero County Park south of San Jose, California – a place that I can drive to in little more than 15 minutes, and where I have hiked extensively for a number of years. These birds often flock around this small lake on winter and early spring mornings. Here it was still overcast, though the low fog from earlier in the morning was now dispersing.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.