Tag Archives: island

Photographs: Croatia, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Travel

Lokrum Island, Adriatic Sea

Image July 31, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

We were in Croatia for a week and a half in the summer of 2023, at the end of a ten weeks of travel in (mostly Southern) Europe. Our visit to this country began with a few days in the remarkable old walled city of Dubrovnik. Late one day I decided it was time to circumnavigate the city on the walkways along the top of the old walls that surround it. The day came to an end as I walked, and I made this photograph right around dusk.

You have probably heard of the “rules of composition.” I’m pretty sure I violated most of them, if not all, in this photograph. “Rules” is the wrong context here — that word implies that there are specific right and wrong ways to approach composition. Instead the goal should be to understand the effects of compositional choices on the mood of a photograph. Here I wanted to express the stillness and lack of dynamism in this scene, its peacefulness and quiet. I think that the almost evenly divided vertical helps with that. And I wanted a bit of a sense of mystery — hence the bit of the island intruding into the frame from the far left.

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: Croatia, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Adriatic Coast, Dubrovnik

Image April 14, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

During the summer of 2023 we went on a very long trip in Europe. Over a 10-week period we were in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Kosovo, and Croatia — with very brief visits/transits in Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro. Many of the photographs from the trip sat in my raw file archive since then, never being worked up into final versions. (I suspect that in some cases I didn’t quite “see” them at first, and in some I moved on to other projects, intending to return.) This week I’ve been going through photographs from the Balkans.

We drove directly from Kosovo to Dubrovnik. I really liked Kosovo on a number of levels, perhaps more so because we stayed in the home of people who live there and who have a family connection. But there are few contrasts greater than that between Kosovo and the walled city of Dubrovnik, which has become quite the hot travel destination. (Evidence: many prices there are surprisingly close to those in the US.) Dubrovnik is a remarkable city, sitting on the beautiful Adriatic coast. The old city is completely surrounded by impressive walls, and much of the city is constructed of stone.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Dawn Light and Fog

Image February 12, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Yes, another foggy Central Valley morning landscape. What can I say? The subject is often on my mind this time of year. While it isn’t always that attractive in the summer, during the winter months this landscape is transformed by the arrival of migratory birds, the appearance of seasonal ponds, and the tule fog. The latter obscures some of the more mundane elements of this landscape and produces a mysterious, moody atmosphere.

I made the photograph just before sunrise. The early light was coloring the sky, visible through the shallow layer of fog. The fog was already starting to drift and thin, and it glowed with the colors of the sunrise clouds overhead. The wetlands were quiet, except for the sounds of birds, and a solitary black-necked stilt stood nearby in the shallow water.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Wetlands, Clearing Fog

Image February 4, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I made this photograph during a fortuitous moment of light and atmosphere. We were in California Central Valley wetlands primarily to photograph migratory birds. The tule fog was thick when we began our work before sunrise. But later on, as we came to the edge of this pond, the fog thinned around us, producing a bit of clear air even as more distant surroundings remained shrouded in fog.

In direct sunlight the effect can be somewhat harsh and stark, but since everything around from this little area was still shrouded in fog and mist (even the sky above contained clouds) the overall light was still soft. I got down low to position the darker foreground water and grasses in front of the more distant wetlands terrain and the distant trees barely visible in the fog.