Tag Archives: garden

Photographs: Structures and Objects

Crack in the Wall

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Crack in the Wall
A matrix of cracks in a very old cement wall.

Special Note: Patty and I are presenting a Silicon Valley Open Studios event on May 21 and 22. Look us up (Dan | Patty) or contact us for information. Visit us and see our prints!

Crack in the Wall. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A matrix of cracks in a very old cement wall.

This is (yet another!) photograph of a subject that was not my primary target when I went out to make pictures. That seems to be a theme recently. To recap, when I go to photograph some particular subject, I keep my eyes open for other subjects that may be lurking nearby. There’s almost always something else interesting in the vicinity waiting to be discovered.

We were photographing spring flowers at an extensive public garden surrounding a historic mansion. We entered, following our usual path along a walkway that skirts the perimeter of a large semi-enclosed area. Stairs led me into this place, and as I poked around I became interested in the weathering of the old concrete wall — now covered by moss in places and filled with cracks. Among other things, I was intrigued by the dissonance between the nearly random form of the crack and the linear interruption of the horizontal edge.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature

Fallen Flower

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Fallen Flower
A fallen flower rests lies on a bed of old leaves and sticks.

Fallen Flower. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A fallen flower rests lies on a bed of old leaves and sticks.

Special Note: Patty and I are presenting a Silicon Valley Open Studios event on May 21 and 22. Look us up there or contact us for more information. Come and see our prints!

As I have written previously, as I photograph one subject I often am also on the lookout for other things that might make a photograph. As we fixate on our primary subject — quite important! — we risk missing other subjects lurking in the neighborhood. The old advice was “always look behind, too” — that’s a reminder look up, look down, look over, look under, look everywhere. You will probably find something interesting.

We were at a large public garden full of spectacularly beautiful spring flower displays. I mostly photographed colorful flowers, but I also poked around a bit. Some time ago I began looking underneath the plants that provide the main show, especially in gardens like this one where interesting things fall to the ground and lie unnoticed in the soft shadows. This flower had reached a poignant stage — it retained its color and shape but had been discarded in the litter beneath the bushes where it was beginning to decay.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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

Photographs: Agriculture, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Looking In

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Looking In
Looking into an old mansion through a screen left ajar.

Looking In. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Looking into an old mansion through a screen left ajar.

We were at this location to photograph flowers, but I almost always keep an eye out for other subjects besides the one I came for. This large public garden is centered around a historic mansion, and at times I found the old building to be as interesting as the flowers that were my object. I noticed that the outer screen didn’t quite close all the way, and then I noticed that a warm lamp was barely visible inside the building. Looking in at the warmly lit interior scene, as vague as it is, evokes memories of such places in the winter.

This is one of those photographs that —once again! — proves the point that we often do not expose for some compromise, straight-out-of-camera shot. instead, I like to think about what exposure will give me the image data that I can use to in post to produce an image that is true to what I saw. Here I had to control the brightness of the exterior — which was fortunately muted a bit as the sun passed behind some clouds —while getting enough of an image in the dark and subtle interior that I could work with it in post.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Nature

Pink Dogwood Blossom

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Pink Dogwood Blossom
A pink spring dogwood blossom.

Pink Dogwood Blossom. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A pink spring dogwood blossom.

After posting a long string of recent photographs from rugged and arid desert landscapes along with a series of monochrome flower images, here’s something, well, pretty. This pink dogwood flower is not exactly a native plant here, and we photographed the subject at a large garden in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Most of the dogwood photographs in my archive are the nearly-pure white flowers found in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada.)

These beautiful flowers were not easy to photograph during our visit. Because the garden is a public place with ticketed access, it was mid- or late-morning by the time we got to these trees. The light was challenging — many flowers were in full sun, and even in the shady areas bright bits of sunlight fell on the scene. So I spent some time looking for flowers in the softer shadow light and then looked for angles that would place them in front of darker and neutral backgrounds.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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