Tag Archives: haze

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

Meadow, Oak Forest, and Cliffs – Autumn, Yosemite Valley

November 18, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn color on meadow, forest, and cliffs at Yosemite Valley, California.

If it isn’t clear by now… I really like photographing the “treescape” of Yosemite Valley – at any time of the year but especially in the fall.

This was a technically challenging photograph to produce. Several things attracted me to the scene including the color of the shaded oak in the right foreground, the subtle light on the tree trunks coming from the reflection from a cliff that is far out of the frame to the left, the very yellow tree just left of the center of the frame, and the sunlit slopes of the Valley walls beyond, carpeted with trees. In addition to finding the right spot to “see” all of this, the exposure issues were challenging.

Dynamic range was obviously one issue. The foreground oak and certain other elements are in relatively dark shade, yet these areas include important details. At the same time, the far cliff is in full sun and – to add to the fun – includes some very reflective sections of rock that are extremely bright. The solution for me was to make two exposures – one for the shaded foreground areas and another for the distant and very bright cliff. The two images were then blended in post-production using masks. (For those who know the term “HDR,” this is not HDR.)

The second problem had to do with color balance and/or color perception. Though you might not “see” it while standing there looking at the scene, there are some very complex issues here with the color of the light. On one hand there are elements that naturally have very warm tones, including parts of the meadow in the sun and that small very yellow oak tree left of center. But other elements are actually very blue – the foreground, shaded vegetation and parts of the meadow because they are illuminated primarily by the very blue open sky above, and the distant hillside because of the haze in the Valley. Our eyes and brain “correct” for this when we are on the scene and we don’t recognize these color issues – to us it just “looks the way it looks” when we are standing there. However, put this lighting in a photograph “as is” and it looks quite wrong! So I had to make some selective color adjustments to move these areas a bit away from the blue tones and in the case of the far cliff to desaturate a bit. Some of this could be done in a general way, but other parts of it had to be done bit by bit using masks.

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.

keywords: forest, grove, pine, fir, oak, season, fall, autumn, color, yellow, gold, orange, meadow, grass, stump, snag, tree, trunk, branch, leaf, leaves, light, cliff, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, midday, late, morning, haze, atmosphere, recession, tall, rock, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock

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

Treasure Island Harbor and Bay Bridge, Dawn

October 29, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunrise light on the new and old spans of the Bay Bridge at Treasure Island with foreground of boats moored at the Treasure Island harbor.

(It occurred to me yesterday that posting this right now might make sense given that the big news story here in the SF Bay Area is the structural failure of a part of the bridge and the subsequent bridge closure… and area-wide traffic meltdown.)

I had originally planned to be in Yosemite Valley today shooting fall color, but life intervened and there simply wasn’t enough time for a trip to the Valley. Instead I decided to take most of the day and head up towards Muir Woods to do a bit of shooting in the redwoods, hoping for some fall color there. Since I was on the road very early, I had time for a detour out to Treasure Island as I passed through San Francisco so I decided to go out there and try some stitched panoramas of dawn light on San Francisco over the water of the Bay.

I arrived there a good 10-15 minutes before sunrise and made a series of panorama exposures of that iconic scene – perhaps nothing astonishing, but worth the trip half way across the bridge. As I finished shooting this scene I looked back across the road toward the Bay Bridge and Oakland, a scene I’ve photographed before, and was struck by the forms of the backlit towers of the old and new spans of the Bay Bridge, the latter currently under construction. I quickly moved across the road to find a better vantage point and decided to come up with a composition that included the boats moored in the harbor in front of the view of the bridge.

A technical note about what you are seeing. A new, replacement eastern bridge span is under construction next to the old bridge. The structures in crossing the photograph include the old bridge, portions of the new bridge, temporary structures supporting the installation, and cranes. If you look closely (easier to do in a large version than in this small jpg) you can see the cranes at the port of Oakland in the distance beyond the bridge.

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

keywords: treasure, island, san, francisco, oakland, bay, bridge, construction, new, boat, moor, anchor, crane, morning, light, dawn, sunrise, reflection, california, usa, structure, urban, construction, equipment, port, harbor, mast, haze, mist, landscape, stock, eastern, span, new

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

Brick Building and San Francisco Skyline

June 5, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of older brick buildings with the more modern skyline of downtown San Francisco in the distance.

The same brick building that appeared in some night and evening photographs posted earlier appears in the foreground of this photograph. Beyond in the more modern downtown San Francisco skyline – if you look closely you can see a bit of the landmark Transamerica Pyramid peeking over the top of another building in the center of the image. The photograph was made very late in the day, within a shot interval just before sunset when the light streams in from the left at a very low angle.

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

keywords: san francisco, california, usa, urban, street, downtown, city, skyline, skyscraper, buildings, tall, transamerica, flag, reflection, afternoon, late, brick, old, window, door, fence, duct, vent, machinery, clock, tower, church, dish, flag, pole, atmospheric, recession, haze, structure, landscape, black and white, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Half Dome and El Capitan, Morning Light

May 27, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

The first view of Half Dome and El Capitan upon arriving at Yosemite Valley in the early morning.

Let’s think of this as a work in progress…

Almost every time I enter Yosemite Valley via the northern highway 120 route I stop at this turnout not far below the turnoff to Foresta, where the first view of Half Dome and El Capitan suddenly looms ahead. I am so familiar with this road that I know exactly when this view will appear, but it must be stunning for a first-time visitor to round this ridge and see these icons looming ahead. I pull out, park the car, fit the long lens, and see what the conditions will produce on this particular day.

I have a vision for a photograph that I’ll probably get some day from this spot, but it will take a perfect combination of light (type, angle, intensity) and atmosphere (some haze but some clarity in the scene as well) and conditions (a bit of snow somewhere, perhaps like that on the summit of Half Dome in this photo). I have a feeling that the day on which it happens will not necessarily be an otherwise stunning day – but the conditions for this shot will be right.

In the meantime this version and a companion in landscape orientation that I shot in early May will have to do. Besides the obvious iconic stuff (Half Dome in the far center and the face of El Capitan looming on the left) there are some interesting visual coincidences in this scene. Notice that the curve of the upper right ridge of Half Dome is mirrored in the curve of the foreground ridge in front of El Capitan. The concave curve on the very upper left side of Half Dome (close to the cliff next to the “cable route”) is mirrored by the dip in the foreground trees. The descending angle of the middle-distance ridge on the right side extends into the downward slanting crown of the trees at lower left.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

keywords: yosemite, valley, national park, half dome, el capitan, silhouette, haze, light, cliff, mountain, forest, trees, black and white, landscape, scenic, travel, california, usa, sky, snow, spring, morning, early, first, view, overlook, stock

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.