Tag Archives: gray

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Fog and Trees, Yosemite Valley

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Fog and Trees, Yosemite Valley
Fog and Trees, Yosemite Valley

Fog and Trees, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Forest trees are almost completely obscured by evening fog in Yosemite Valley.

If you have been watching some of my recently posted photographs, you have perhaps figured out that I’m working on a series of photographs in which mist and fog and clouds obscure to a greater or lesser extent some underlying elements of the landscape. (If you haven’t been watching my recent posts… you can still be my friend! ;-) In a few of them I am seeing how far I can take this and still have an interesting photograph. This one marks a further step along that path in that at least half of the scene has little or no detail, being almost completely obscured by drifting fog, and even in the areas where trees are still visible the details are very muted.

I’m thinking about just how little detail I can retain in the scene and still retain a sense of form. And this isn’t the most extreme in the series at all. I’m working on another one which retains less “solid” detail than this one. (It may be that it works as a print but perhaps not as a web jpg, in which case I may not post it here – we’ll see.)

The photograph was made at – icon alert! – Wawona Tunnel View above Yosemite Valley on an evening when I had little interest in shooting the classic view of the Valley itself, but had instead gone there because I was almost certain that fog would form among the trees on the Valley floor as the temperature dropped following a rainy day. If anyone had noticed me shooting on that evening among the line-up of dozens of photographers, they might have been perplexed as to why I was aiming a very large lens down when the famous view was obviously straight ahead! ;-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dead Branches, Bishop Creek

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Dead Branches, Bishop Creek
Dead Branches, Bishop Creek

Dead Branches, Bishop Creek. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tangle of dead branches along the banks of Bishop Creek, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photographic irony, perhaps, but I made this photograph within sight of the gaudiest and flashiest brilliant autumn aspen leaves that I saw during the first week of October in the Bishop Creek area. I’m not exaggerating. I had earlier spotted the “gaudy, flashy” trees as I drove away from a nearby location and looked, almost in shock, at their intense red, gold, and orange colors. For various reasons, I did not stop, but I made a mental note to come back here later in the day. When I returned went straight to the color and spent some time photographing it. (A photo of those trees will show up here before long.)

As I finished shooting that obvious autumn subject, I slowed down a bit and walked along the side of the creek in the fading evening light. As I did so, I noticed these tangles of old, dead branches along the bank and wondered how I might photograph them. The interesting and apparently random juxtapositions of the gray branches intrigued me right away, as did the various textures and shapes and combinations of bright and shadowed features. As I looked closer the colors of the scene began to become more visible – the red-brown colors of the pine cone at lower left, the similar tones of the fallen needles, and the slender lines of green where a few blades of grass draped across the branches.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature

Roots and Rocks

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Roots and Rocks
Roots and Rocks

Roots and Rocks. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered tree roots stretch across boulders at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

I made this photograph at our first stop after we arrived at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. (Technically, that isn’t quite true, since we had earlier stopped at the “ranger station” to ask some questions, but this was the first “real” stop for photography.) The road into this area twists and turns as it ascends toward and then past a ski area, and here we couldn’t help but pull over at a hairpin curve that provided a panoramic overlook to the valley below and the ridges to the east (?) of our position. Although the original reason for stopping was this dramatic view, I soon found nearby “intimate landscapes” to also be very interesting. While I often hike and climb long distances to find my photographs… for this one the tripod was on asphalt and the subject right next to the road.

On a technical note, for this photograph I used a lens that I’m increasingly fond of for photographing subjects like this one, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM (link to B&H). I find it useful to be able to put a bit of distance between myself and subjects in which the entire image may include only a few square feet, and the ability to fine tune the composition with the zoom is very useful. Although I didn’t do it in this photography, working with a slightly longer focal length also lets me have the option of isolating the subject against an out of focus background. I have the non-IS version of the lens – because that was the only version available back when I got mine – though I would almost certainly get the IS version if I were to replace it.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

All Stops Special – Caltrain Station

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All Stops Special - Caltrain Station
All Stops Special - Caltrain Station

All Stops Special – Caltrain Station. San Francisco, California. July 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The San Francisco Caltrain station, photographed through glass lobby windows.

I frequently ride Caltrain to the City to do street photography. (Getting there by train is far better for me than taking the car, mainly because I think I can do more effective photography of this sort when I’m working completely on foot and not dealing with the whole driving/parking thing.) In this photograph I liked the nearly empty glass-enclosed lobby area, lit by very diffused light under the early morning fog, and with the trains visible on the other side. The “All Stops Special” sign seems enigmatic when seen out of context.

By the way, as much as San Francisco residents love the sunny and warmer days that occasionally come to the City this time of year, for photography I much prefer at least some fog and cloudiness, especially when I try to shoot during the daytime hours.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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