Tag Archives: green

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Utah

Green River Canyon, Evening

April 10, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I recently returned from a week in Utah which, perhaps surprisingly, was completely new to me as a photographic subject. More about that in a moment, but first a description of the photograph. It was made in Canyonlands National Park in the “Island in the Sky” area, looking west from a high viewpoint above the canyon containing the winding Green River, not far above its confluence with the Colorado River. The “Island” is a high and relatively flat plateau at around 6000+’ of elevation, surrounding on many sides by deep canyons, cliffs, and then several levels of lower plateaus. There are “edges” everywhere, and all of them provide stunning vistas into the vast spaces below and beyond. We ended up at this spot largely due to a photograph I had seen an a park brochure that included a view of receding mesas and canyons in evening light. We scouted it in the middle of the afternoon as we visited several places in this area of the park, and it seemed inevitable that I would end up at sunset. I initially imagined a scene with brighter colors from the sunset and the post-sunset sky, but instead I ended up with something that I think I like even more, namely softer light with haze in the atmosphere and somewhat gentler colors.

As I mentioned above, I have not photographed in Utah before. I had been through the state several times many years ago, but I think we more or less sped through on interstate highways – which don’t tend to follow the most scenic routes – and I had a very limited view of the place. While it is too bad that I waited so long to go there, it gave me the opportunity to have an experience that I don’t have nearly as often in California where I do most of my shooting. Because I live within a short drive of redwood forests, the Pacific coast, and places like Yosemite Valley and the Sierra and visit all of them frequently, I have to admit that I sometimes forget how extraordinary they are. I can drive right past Yosemite’s Tunnel View if the view is just a typical Yosemite Valley view. But on this trip, I more or less intentionally avoided investigating our destinations before we left. Consequently, I had opportunities to be surprised and astonished — like any good tourist! — by things that I was seeing for the first time. For example, I really had no idea what I would see at Arches National Park when we drove into it at just about the “golden hour” – and I was completely stunned by impossible structures and juxtapositions of sandstone columns and arches and towers and cliffs. I just got a quick taste on this trip… but I’ll be back.

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

Forest, Morning Light

April 6, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light shines into forest at the top of bluffs above the Pacific Ocean, Point Lobos State Reserve.

These forests at Point Lobos are often very appealing places to be, but I find them to be difficult to photograph! They are full of light in the right conditions – while the trees can grow somewhat close together, they tend to form a relatively open canopy that lets the light in. There is often moss hanging down from branches. Various plants grow along the ground – though watch out for the poison oak! And, of course, when you are actually there the constant sound of the surf is never far away, the air is cool, and there is often at least some breeze.

But some of these same attractive features are the source of (for me, anyway) the challenges of photographing these forests. The light, as beautiful as it is, can be very tricky. Because of the thin canopy of the trees, the direct sunlight often makes it down into the lower reaches of the forest and hits trunks and branches, creating spots of very bright light that are hard to manage. I could photograph (and have done so) in overcast or foggy conditions… but there goes that light. And the dense growth makes it difficult to find compositions that show the larger forest itself rather than just isolated elements of it. But on this visit high, thin clouds came to the rescue. While they were thin enough to allow directional sun light into the forest, they were just opaque enough to take the harsh edge off of the light.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Abstract

Bouquet #2

March 29, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Bouquet #2.

This is the second of two photographs in this series. I’ll let it stand for what it is rather than explaining. :-)

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

Spring Torrent, Boulders, and Trees

March 27, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Spring torrent, mist, and trees, Yosemite. — “Spring Torrent, Boulders, and Trees” — Spring snowmelt swells a rushing creek as it rushes past trees and over boulders, Yosemite National Park.

This is a Yosemite National Park cascade that I frequently photograph – at various times of the year including winter, the spring runoff season, and the much quieter and more sedate autumn time. This creek drops precipitously down a steep mountainside (as a number of Yosemite Valley creeks tend to do!) and passes in several place through narrow, twisting, and granite boulder-filled channels.

I made this photograph at almost right around the peak of the spring runoff during an above-average precipitation year, so the water was roaring though this section. The mist that is visible in the photograph was being blown strongly down the canyon and I had to stand in its flow to make this photograph. I recall that I more or less figured out the composition (two actually – one vertical and this one horizontal) before I moved into position, and then I quickly stepped into the mist and made a series of exposures before I and my equipment became too wet, shooting straight into the blowing mist. Now, when I look at this photograph, the memory of the cool, wet air and the tremendous sound of the cascading water comes back to me.

G Dan Mitchell Photography