Tag Archives: gate

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Cloud Shadows and Fog

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Cloud Shadows and Fog
Cloud shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Cloud Shadows and Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud shadow on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

This is a rather subtle landscape or seascape photograph, perhaps to the point of minimalism. I made it on a foggy afternoon along the interior of Drakes Bay at the Point Reyes National Seashore. The fog had thinned a bit by this time, but it was obstinate enough that it had not lifted even in the afternoon. Some light was coming though the cloud deck but it was extremely diffused — though it had enough directionality and the fog enough luminosity to lay a subtle shadow across the water below a thicker line of clouds.

Days like this one are slow, quiet, and mysterious along the Pacific Coast. The scale of the landscape diminishes to some extend and the “clear to the horizon” views are gone, as is the dome of the sky. From high locations such as the one from which I made the photograph, even the sound of the surf is muted.

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: Pacific Northwest

Garden Gate

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Garden Gate
An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Garden Gate. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Some years back our youngest son and our daughter-in-law lived in the lovely and quirky city of Portland, Oregon. Since it is (just barely, if you have a lot of endurance!) a one-day drive from the San Francisco Bay Area we managed to get up there somewhat regularly, and we came to like the place a lot. Among other things, it is a city of gardens, including several that we visited more than once. This photograph of a stone walkway passing through a gate comes from the lovely Japanese Garden.

Having roots in a non-west-coast part of America (long ago, but they stick with you), I can understand how the character of towns along the Pacific coast is difficult for some to understand in other parts of the country. But Oregon is a wonderful place that is hard to characterize in any single way. There is a long tradition of a kind of counter-culture there, but there is also a large suburban population. Don’t believe the simplistic, politicized claims that the city is “under siege” or a hotbed of some kind of awfulness that requires federal intervention.

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

Photographs: Nature

Redwood Forest Plants

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Redwood Forest Plants
“Redwood Forest Plants” — Detail of plants growing on the redwood forest floor.

We are perhaps spoiled somewhat here in my part of California. We take redwood forests for granted — both the coastal trees and the sequoias found in a few areas of the Sierra. Because I’ve been around these trees almost all my life, I forget sometimes how remarkable they are. Ironically, it is frequently while traveling to other places where forest trees are not of such gigantic size that I realize how shocking their scale can be.

At the same time, familiarly helps me look past the trees themselves and see smaller things that might be overlooked by a person walking through these forests with neck craned upwards in marvel. There is actually a lot taking place right down on the ground, especially during the wet season. I made this photograph one march in redwoods just north of San Francisco.

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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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Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Departing The Golden Gate

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Departing The Golden Gate
A ship and barge head out off the Golden Gate and into a Pacific Ocean sunset.

Departing The Golden Gate. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A ship and barge head out off the Golden Gate and into a Pacific Ocean sunset.

Oddly, so many photographs seem to have a different and unexpected context in this time of social distancing and relative confinement to our homes and neighborhoods. Some photographers are moving to photographs of things in or around their homes. (I’ve done a bit of that, too.) Some are reaching back into their image archives to discover photographs that they/we had left behind. And a few are ignoring the guidelines and heading out into the field… or else taking advantage of the loosening of restrictions as the new announcements come out. (I’m hoping for a bit of that soon, too!)

Although the evening of this photograph was eight years ago, I recall it fairly well. I had been photographing somewhere else north of the Golden Gate. I started back home in the late afternoon, pausing in this area before crossing the bridge to San Francisco — the timing was fortuitously right to be here at sunset. It was an evening of beautiful sky, with bands of clouds stretching to the horizon as a ship and barge headed out into the ocean.

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 | 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.