Tag Archives: historic

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

Ribbon Fall

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Ribbon Fall
Yosemite Valley’s Ribbon Fall in full flow during the historic 2023 spring runoff.

Ribbon Fall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Yosemite Valley’s Ribbon Fall in full flow during the historic 2023 spring runoff.

Let’s begin with by acknowledging that this is a bit of a “record shot” — a photograph whose purpose is as much to record of a thing as to produce an aesthetic effect. But in a year of weather and climate extremes in the Sierra, a few record shots seem to be in order. Ribbon Fall drops from a point high on the walls of Yosemite Valley to the west of El Capitan. You might not know about it since it is often dry. However, in addition to being a seasonal fall, its main claim to fame is that it has the largest uninterrupted drop of any Yosemite waterfall, even exceeding that of Upper Yosemite Fall.

When I arrived in the Valley on this spring morning the week before Memorial Day, Ribbon Fall (along with many others in the Valley) had unusually high flow. Unless you happen to be there right after an unusual cloudburst in the valley it drains, it is unlikely that any of us will ever see more water in this fall.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Ghost Towns, Photographs: Southern California

Abandoned Mill

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Abandoned Mill
An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

Abandoned Mill. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

For someone like me, the first instinct is to think of Death Valley National Park as being mostly wilderness, and then to associate that with the idea that it is a place of little or no human presence. In truth there’s virtually no place in the world where we have not left a mark… and there are many examples in this park. They range from evidence of long-ago native populations and their descendants who still live there to the rather astonishing number of old mining sites. No matter where you go in this park., you are bound to see these things.

In the latter category is the site of Skidoo, where there was once a real town and lots of mining and ore refining… in just about the most unlikely location imaginable. It was near the summit of high desert mountains, far from any paved roads. The ruins of the water-powered mill (an astounding story too long to relate here) sit on a steep hillside, overlooking a remarkable expanse of rugged desert terrain and mountains that extends to the distant peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Near Keane Wonder Mine

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Near Keane Wonder Mine
Rugged terrarin near the Keane Wonder Mine, Death Valley.

Near Keane Wonder Mine. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Rugged terrarin near the Keane Wonder Mine, Death Valley.

One morning on my recent photographic Death Valley trip I headed up the road from the Valley toward Beatty, Nevada. I didn’t plan to actually go to Beatty, butI wanted to learn a bit more about the closure of part of the read between the park and Beatty, to photograph some large-scale vistas, and perhaps to check out the area near the Keane Wonder Mine. I knew that the latter was closed for restoration work, but I thought I might be able to at least get close to it. It turned out that this was not the case, so I decided to photograph the landscape near the mine from a distance.

The mine was one of the more productive in Death Valley during the 1900s. Its works are extensive, and a lot of remnants are still there. (For years it was closed off due to safety concerns, but access was again permitted a few years agp.) Much of the area in the photograph is more or less natural landscape, but a closer look reveals tailings, the remains of a long pipe system that likely supplied water, and some other evidence of mining.

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 | Twitter | 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.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Fire Alarm Station

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Fire Alarm Station
A historic fire alarm, Paris.

Fire Alarm Station. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A historic fire alarm, Le Marais, Paris.

This is a photograph that began as a simple, spur-of-the-moment thing and ultimately led me down a rabbit hole of information about the history of fire alarms. I saw this thing while walking in Le Marais. It looked interesting, and the shiny red paint caught my eye, so I photographed the upper part of it with the alcove and barred windows in the background. Later I finally looked into it and learned a LOT about fire alarm systems. The earliest apparently were created about 200 years ago — and before that alarms were delivered by… sending a runner. In the 1800s telegraph technology was eventually used, and near the end of the century early telephone technology made its appearance. Paris was late to the game, with their first alarms in the late 1800s. This one dates to the early 1900s, and people reporting fires would break a glass window and then speak to the department via telephone. Whew.

One other interesting thing came from this photograph. Recently I was working on a photograph of a Paris church, and I did not recognize it. I knew I made it on a day when we walked in and around Le Marais as other nearby areas, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then, as I worked on this fire alarm photograph I realized that the building is reflected in the window at the right! Since I could easily find the location of the fire alarm (it is the only one in this area), I went to it on a digital map and there was the church! (More about that location later when I share its photograph.)

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 | Twitter | 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.