My landscape photography often involves what might be described as hunting. I look for the potential of good light conditions and for locations with subject and compositional promise and then I… hunt. I wander, I go with hunches. I use what I know about light and terrain — but often I very much do not set out with a specific photograph in mind. This photograph was not made that way.
Continue reading Tuolumne Meadows, Evening
Photographing in the morning and evening twilight can be a bit of a crapshoot. The light can be soft yet intensely colorful… or it can simply fade away to gray. Familiarity with the patterns of clouds and light can improve the odds, but you still have to head out there and take advantage of whatever happens. That was my plan on this late-August evening when thin clouds stretched across the sky, presenting the possibility of colorful light.
Continue reading Tuolumne River, Dusk
This may (or may not!) be my final post of a summer 2025 photograph from the Yosemite high country. (As long time readers know, sometimes I do dig back into the archives and work up “left behind” photographs.) It is a modest little photograph, but it seems appropriate to conclude the coverage of the high country year with sunset light on forest and granite.
I made the photograph on an early July walk through parts of Tuolumne Meadows. I was up there, in part, to adapt to the elevation before an upcoming pack trip — but also, obviously and predictably — to do some photography. I was out wandering the meadows as the day came to an end, and I made the photograph as the last direct sunlight, soft and warm, illuminated the forest at the east end of the meadow and the line between light and shadow began to ascend the dome.
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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
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We spent a few days in Dubrovnik, Croatia near the end of the summer of 2023, between time in Kosovo and a week near Trogir, further north in Croatia. The weather conditions were fascinating and a little challenging on this day. There were high clouds, some of which were thick enough to darken the sky, and the direct sun was blocked, leaving this soft light on the buildings.
I made the photograph in a small square that is largely hemmed in by buildings like those in the photograph. The only part of the cathedral that is visible beyond them is is rounded dome, a major landmark in Dubrovnik.
Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.
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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.