Tag Archives: fence

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening

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Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening
A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

This spring hillside was in early evening sun when I arrived, and as I set up to photograph the green folds and brightly colored wildflowers, the line between sunset light and shadow worked its way up the hillside. I looked around for a composition and thought that the old fence might tie things together.

At about this time each year, depending upon how wet the winter was, the California hills undergo a sudden and relatively brief transformation. First, winter rains cause last year’s seeds to come to life and send up carpets of new, green growth. Then, as the green phase approaches its conclusion, wildflowers show up. In a few places like this one, in an especially good year, entire mountains erupt in brilliant color.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Southern California

Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain

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Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain
A gravel road passes through a barbed wire fence, Carrizo Plain National Monument

Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gravel road passes through a barbed wire fence, Carrizo Plain National Monument.

My inclination is to approach photography in locations like the Carrizo Plain as photography of the “natural landscape.” However, the story is a bit more complicated here and, to be honest, in quite a few places in the areas of the American West where I photograph. I’m hard pressed to think of a place I’ve visited where the “hand of man” was not present in some way. In many places this influence is not obvious. For example, in parts of the Sierra backcountry I can entertain the illusion that I’m the only visitor. But in many places around the periphery of these wildernesses and in many other locations it is clear that such an illusion is hard to maintain.

In the Carrizo this is very clear, even though there is plenty of nature to see there. We could start with the obvious fact that access is by roadways that are, even at their worst, pretty decent. More obviously, this is a place where cattle are raised and, no doubt, have been for a long time. I drove out onto the plain at this spot to see vast fields of yellow and purple wildflowers and to find a long view of surrounding mountains. When I arrived I found a pair of the ubiquitous water tanks (this time nearly destroyed), and old windmill, a few other structures, and this barbed wire fencing.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light

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Meadow, Forest, Evening Light
Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

Meadow, Forest, Evening Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft evening light and haze illuminate a meadow clearing with silhouetted trees

It was late on a clear winter day, and I found myself in Yosemite Valley, in an area of trees and meadows. My first objective was group of riverside trees that were catching the early evening light coming up the Valley from the west. Soon the cliffs along the north side of the Valley cast shadows across these trees, so I moved on, following the shadow-sun line to the southwest as I crossed meadows.

Ahead a row of trees cut across the meadow along the route of a trail. A management fire was burned a bit to the west — incinerating trees that died in the drought of the past few years — and the smoke drifted, producing a gentle haze in the evening light. I found a break in the trees, with a meadow and back-lit trees on the far side, and above more trees fading into the haze toward faint cliff silhouettes. I made a quick series of exposures, and then then light was gone.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pasture, Estero, and Drakes Bay

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Pasture, Estero, and Drakes Bay
Looking across pastureland and Drakes Estero toward Drakes Bay and the California coast

Pasture, Estero, and Drakes Bay. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. October 15, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking across pastureland and Drakes Estero toward Drakes Bay and the California coast

I have a confession to make regarding Point Reyes. Although it is, relatively speaking, “in my local neighborhood” and I’ve gone there a lot, I have yet to fully wrap my mind around the place to the extent that I feel that I have fully photographed it or fully understand its character. I do have some photographs of the place that I like quite a bit, but when I go there I often find it more difficult to photograph than places like the Sierra, the Big Sur coast, California’s deserts, and similar. I love photographing the ocean, but here the features of the coast are perhaps more subtle, tending more toward beaches and bluffs and bay than to dramatic and rocky coastline. There are hills, but many are rather short, tend to be covered almost completely in forest in many cases, and tend to lack rocky outcroppings. The light can be very interesting, but there is often a fine line between too much and too little sun.

To summarize, I’m still working to figure out my vision of the place. Our most recent visit, in the middle of October during the northern California wildfires, was provided no exceptions to the challenge. There was no fog and the sky was almost clear… except that wildfire smoke often tended to blanket the terrain, producing a sort of yellow quality to the light. Because it is October, most of the green of meadows is long gone, and instead open areas are a kind of muted brown. Yet, I still want to photograph the place, and I know I’ll eventually “get it.” We did spend some time looking for photographs in the park this time, and this lovely inlet from Drakes Estero caught my attention as we traveled out toward the location of the Point Reyes Lighthouse. After we stopped and I looked more closely, I found the old stock fence to be an interesting addition to the photograph.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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