Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Light, Siena

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Streetlight, Siena
A wall-mounted streetlight bearring the colors of a Siena contrada.

Street Light, Siena. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall-mounted streetlight bearring the colors of a Siena contrada.

A few years back during a weeks-long trip through portions of Europe, we stayed in Tuscany for about a week and a half. We drove down from Germany (where Patty’s brother lives), stopped briefly in Bologna, continued on to Florence, and then to a place in this hills between there and Siena where we stayed for about a week. (We concluded this visit with a few days in Florence before flying home.) One one of those days in the hills we drove to Siena and spent a good part of the day there.

Our visit to Siena was too short… but at least we had time to do a brief exploration and realize that it would be worth a return trip. The old section of the city is a wonderful maze of narrow, twisting streets that eventually lead to the famous central square. The city is divided into 22 districts, each of which is identified by an animal and, as I understand it, a color scheme. The colors appear everywhere, but I thought they were especially notable on the novel street lights like this one.

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: Sierra Nevada

Morning Meadow

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Morning Meadow
Wild onion plants in bloom at the edge of a subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness

Morning Meadow. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wild onion plants in bloom at the edge of a subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness.

One a weeklong visit to this area a couple of years ago, I eventually started to locate particular nearby locations that I returned to almost daily, visiting at all times of the day and getting to know them well. We camped above a quiet lake, and below its lower end there were long meadows extending toward the deep valley beyond. Despite the lateness of the season (it had been a very wet year!) the meadows were still green and even wet in places, and there were wildflowers everywhere. In this little spot the view opened through gaps in the surrounding forest to reveal views of distant peaks.

It might seem odd to make a photograph of… onion plants. But if you have spent much time in the Sierra backcountry you may have developed an affinity for this plant. The wild onion generally grows in wet places, and when the conditions are right the plants are almost lush. The beautiful purple flowers are striking. And the fragrance of these plants, often combined with damp and cooler air where they grow, produces a pleasant sensory memory that I associate with these places and with backpacking.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Drifting Fog, Hills

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Drifting Fog, Hills
Dawn fog pours across arid California hills

Drifting Fog, Hills © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn fog pours across arid California hills.

This is a somewhat unusual photograph — not the photograph itself, actually, but the fact that I’m sharing it. It is a black and white rendering of a photograph that I have previously shared as a color image. Most often I make a decision one way or the other, and I rarely ask “Is this better in color or monochrome?”, at least not publicly! But recently I have had reasons to look at the world in black and white a bit more than usual, so I decided to take an alternative view of this scene.

This was a remarkable morning in these inland Southern California hills where I had gone to photograph wildflowers. Early in the morning, a bit before sunrise, I headed from my hilly campsite toward a large valley filled with flowers… and I was very surprised to look look down and see the valley filled with fog. Of in the distance, gentle breezes were pushing the fog bank over and around these hills as the sky began to lighten.

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.

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

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

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast

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Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline

Sea Stacks, Pacific Coast. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea stacks along the upper Big Sur coastline.

California’s Pacific coastline is a sort of “home base” for me. Despite being born in landlocked Minnesota, I’ve lived within less than an hour of the coast since I was four-years-old. My childhood memories include trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and points north and south. One of our favorites was visiting the Point Lobos tide pools.

Many visitors to the coast come hoping to see beautiful blue sky days with warm sun. Those are not my favorite conditions — I prefer a good winter storm or the right kind of fog. But this photograph was made on one of those days back in April of this year. Following a wet winter, this was one of those glorious early-spring days when even I welcome the sunshine along this coast!

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.

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