Tag Archives: curve

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Sculpted Canyon Rock, Plant

June 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone plant grows in a crack in sculpted Utah canyon sandstone

These canyons feel isolated from the rest of the outside world. In the narrow sections, the only view of the familiar world may be a small strip of sky directly overhead. The tall canyon walls, which may be only feet apart, block any view of the surrounding terrain, and the focus of my attention narrows down to the section of the canyon where I find myself, the walls where I stand a some short distance ahead before the canyon twists out of sight.

Not only are we visually cut off from the outside, but we are also isolated acoustically. No sound makes it down into the bottoms of the canyons from the above. In the canyon there may be the sounds of quietly flowing water, and perhaps the tinkling sound of water dropping over rocks. A bird may sing. The sound of my footsteps echoes between the walls. In this spot, daytime sunlight high above bounced between the canyon walls, diffusing until a wash of soft red-tinted light reached the canyon bottom. Horizontal layers had eroded at varying rates, a jagged crack cut the canyon wall vertically, and one plant grew in the crack.

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

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

Contemplating the Dunes

April 30, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Walkers contemplate evening light on sand dunes

The wind had been strong enough the night before that as I lay in my fairly hardcore mountain tent (fully staked out!) I could hear nearby campers pounding in their stakes, rescuing gear than had gone flying, or giving up and sleeping in their cars. The wind continued on into the morning, and as I drove away to a place that I thought might be more sheltered I passed through big blowing clouds of dust and sand. As I returned in the middle of the afternoon there was still a lot of dust in the air and the wind was still blowing, thought its force was diminishing. I went to my camp for a quick visit and the winds continued to die down. By the point when it was time for me to head out for evening photography things had calmed down considerably and I decided to visit dunes.

The large nearby dune fields were in almost pristine condition on this evening, since the wind had kept a lot of people off the dunes and obliterated many of the tracks that folks had left earlier. I selected a part of the dunes where I saw no other people and headed out. The sand was largely undisturbed and I was able to photograph the patterns created by the wind with few signs of human visits. As I worked I looked off into the distance toward the highest dunes where a few people were not returning and walking toward the highest hills. From my position the foreground was a landscape of layered and angled slopes of sand, and in the distance a few people seemed to pause and enjoy the quiet evening among the dunes.

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

Creosote Bush, Sand, Mountains

April 20, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone creosote bush among sand dunes and desert mountains in evening light

A photograph of one small thing in the landscape may evoke clearer and more powerful memories of the experience of the place than a photograph that shows the whole scene. For me, this is one of those photographs. Unless you know the area quite well, you would be hard pressed to identify exactly where the photograph was made or precisely what we are seeing here beyond “creosote bush,” “sand dunes,” and “hazy, distant mountains.” And you could find a similar little scene in innumerable other locations. Perhaps this might let you, as its lets me, use this little scene as the starting point for recalling other things that comprise the experience of being in such a place.

During much of the year this desert is — no surprise! — an oppressively hot place, in many ways not at all friendly to human life. I often photograph very early and very late in the day, spending the hot and bright midday times traveling or in a place where I can escape that heat and intense light. In the afternoon I start to think about the time when the light will soften and the air will be less hot, and late in the day I head out to make photographs, often arriving at a location while it is still uncomfortably hot. I wander out into the terrain — though often with at least some vague plan — and before long comes that beautiful time of day: the wind slows and the temperature drops into the eighties, the sun’s light is muted by the atmosphere as it nears the horizon, and soon it drops behind desert mountains. The light becomes soft and there is little sound, yet I look with increasing urgency, knowing that this combination of air and light and color will only last briefly.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: curve

Sculpted Canyon Rock, Plant

Contemplating the Dunes

Creosote Bush, Sand, Mountains

Courtyard Window Reflections

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