Tag Archives: glow

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oak Silhouette

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Oak Silhouette
A dormant oak tree silhouetted against glowing winter light and hzae.

Oak Silhouette. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A dormant oak tree silhouetted against glowing winter light and hzae.

As the grand alpine landscapes of the Sierra backcountry become mostly inaccessible to me in the winter, my attention inevitably turns to the low country — the Pacific coast, the inland valleys, and the oak/grassland hills not far from where I live. This photograph comes from the latter, a small county park less than a half hour from my home, a place where I have hiked for many years. There are still surprises there, though, including this tree, which I had not noticed before this hike on Christmas Eve Day.

At first glance the conditions might not have seemed to promising for photography. A period of stagnant winter air around here had produced a lot of haze — so much that there were prohibitions on fireplace use and some warning about particulate levels. But that same haze glows in a luminous fashion when the light is right, and here it mutes the background details and sets off the form of this old oak tree.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Autumn Morning, Big Sur Coast

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Autumn Morning, Big SurCoast
Spray and mist glow in morning light along the Big Sur Coast.

Autumn Morning, Big Sur Coast. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Spray and mist glow in autumn morning light along the Big Sur Coast.

Every time I visit the Big Sur coast — which I’ve been doing for decades — I manage to find something new. Sometimes it is just a different view on something that I’ve seen before — perhaps a different sort of light, unusual conditions of surf or weather, or a slightly different vantage point. Occasionally it is something that I did not know about — an obscure overlook, a juxtaposition of landscape elements, and so forth.

This location falls between those extremes. I have stopped to photograph this general area quite a few times. But there are innumerable little access points and foot paths that head out along the edge of the coastal bluffs, and this time I took one that I’ve seen many times but never followed. It took me to this overlook above a small cove backed by a series of small ridges running down to the waterline, with a taller hill in the distance.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Morning Haze

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Lake, Morning Haze
Morning haze glows in a valley beyond the outlet stream of a Sierra Nevada subalpine lake.

Lake, Morning Haze. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning haze glows in a valley beyond the outlet stream of a Sierra Nevada subalpine lake.

As a photographer whose roots are in black and white photography — that’s how I started decades ago — the thought of “going monochrome” with photographs is always there, even though the great majority of what I do these days ends up in color. But every so often a photograph just seems like it should be black and white. The reasons are not always completely clear, but often they are images with a strong formal structure and photographs in which the contribution of color might not be the most important thing. I went back and forth on this one quite a bit, eventually putting the color and monochrome renditions side by side on the screen… at which point the choice seemed clear.

This lovely Sierra Nevada lake has an ideally situated outlet stream for morning photography. At the outlet the broad basin holding the lake pinches off between angled canyon walls. Beyond the valley drops toward the rising sun, and the mountains beyond are seen though the luminous morning light. Other photographs I made of this subject included only a bit of the lake and used the wide landscape format. But it seemed to me that including this bit of the near shoreline strengthens the sense that the viewer is looking out and across the water into that light.

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: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Hallway, The Louvre

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Hallway, The Louvre
Light filtiering through windows into a hallway, the Louvre, Paris.

Hallway, The Louvre. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Light filtiering through windows into a hallway, the Louvre, Paris.

One of my little secrets is that when I visit museums, the collections are not the only reason I’m there. Among other reasons, I like to photograph them. They are compelling spaces in so many ways. Although not evident in this photograph, they are great places to observe people individually and in groups, and the buildings themselves are often visually interesting. That’s no surprise since they are created from a perspective that gives great importance to visual effect and to light.

I’m betting that this is far, far from the most photographed thing at The Louvre! It is just a section of hallway near, if my memory is correct, an escalator. But the light coming through these windows was lovely, so I made a photograph. Here’s a secret: I shared a much different interpretation of of this scene previously. That version is in black and white and in it I took greater liberties with the qualities of the light and shadow.

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.