Tag Archives: ice

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel

Balcony Bridge, Winter

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Photo of Balcony Bridge, Central Park, in winter snow.
“Balcony Bridge, Winter” — A winter scene at Balcony Bridge in Central Park, Manhattan

I have photographed and walked across Balcony Bridge in Central Park frequently. It is near the edge of “The Lake” in a popular area of the park, and in warm weather it is common to see lots of people pausing on the bridge to enjoy the view and take pictures. But it had a very different feeling on this cold and snowy winter day.

It only snowed for a few hours on the late-December morning, but it was enough to cover the ground with an inch or two of white, transforming the appearance of the park. The snow and the mostly-barren trees presented a starker landscape, one that reminded me of some well-known Bruegel winter paintings.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City

Winter Reflections, Central Park

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Lake edge with ice and reflections.
“Winter Reflections, Central Park” — Trees reflected in a strip of water at the edge of a frozen lake, Central Park.

I photographed this little scene on a cold morning walk through New York’s Central Park this past December. We were fortunate to have light snow one morning, and that changed the appearance of the city and the park. It had already been cold enough to freeze most of The Lake’s surface, but the light snowfall covered imperfections. In this spot fallen leaves rested on new ice and the reflected the silhouettes of nearby trees.

The concepts of “nature” (and even of “wilderness”) are complex and, I think, not entirely fixed. Sometimes we accept the notion that these things mean “devoid of evidence of humans.” But there’s a problem with that idea — it suggests that humans are independent of the natural world. Finding the natural world in places like this — even if you can perhaps hear car horns in the distance — is a reminder that nature is everywhere and we are a part of it.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Rock and Ice

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Rock and Ice
“Rock and Ice” — A permanent ice field and rugged alpine terrain in the Sierra Nevada.

This is a classic example of alpine Sierra Nevada terrain. At the very bottom is a bit of alpine meadow, located right at the upper edge of the local tree line. Above that we see large expanses of glaciated granite with rounded and smoothed forms that are now cracked and broken by erosion. Still higher, a permanent ice field (one of a diminishing number of them) nestles in a bowl eroded by its glacial ancestor. The ice field sits at the base of very steep and rugged slopes that rise to unseen peaks.

One result of spending a lot of time in the higher reaches of the Sierra Nevada is that it is easy to forget how exotic such landscapes look to those who don’t visit them. To them, this terrain might seem forbidding and out of reach. But the reality is that once you reach this elevation, the land opens up and you can go almost anywhere without trails, limited only by your imagination and you ability to find routes and navigate.

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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Autumn Weeds

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Autumn Weeds
Colorful autumn weeds with morning frost, Central Valley.

Autumn Weeds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful autumn weeds with morning frost, Central Valley.

Yes, weeds. I had spent a few hours photographing more exalted subjects — migratory birds, foggy sunrise skies, big vistas, fall colors. Eventually it was time for a break, so I pulled into a parking area, poured a cup of coffee from my thermos and grabbed a snack. It was a very cold morning, so I stood along the sunny side of my vehicle, enjoying the slight warmth of the morning sun. And at my feet, right there in the parking lot, next to a fence, I saw some colorful, frost-rimmed… weeds.

As you would expect, I put down the coffee, grabbed a camera, and set about photographing the… weeds. I’m often reminded of something that another photographer once wrote: “There’s always something to see!” Those words, which seem pretty banal when considered from a non-photographic perspective, turn out to be pretty important. No matter where you are, there is, indeed, virtually always “something to see.”

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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