Tag Archives: japanese

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Garden Gate

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Garden Gate
An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Garden Gate. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Some years back our youngest son and our daughter-in-law lived in the lovely and quirky city of Portland, Oregon. Since it is (just barely, if you have a lot of endurance!) a one-day drive from the San Francisco Bay Area we managed to get up there somewhat regularly, and we came to like the place a lot. Among other things, it is a city of gardens, including several that we visited more than once. This photograph of a stone walkway passing through a gate comes from the lovely Japanese Garden.

Having roots in a non-west-coast part of America (long ago, but they stick with you), I can understand how the character of towns along the Pacific coast is difficult for some to understand in other parts of the country. But Oregon is a wonderful place that is hard to characterize in any single way. There is a long tradition of a kind of counter-culture there, but there is also a large suburban population. Don’t believe the simplistic, politicized claims that the city is “under siege” or a hotbed of some kind of awfulness that requires federal intervention.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Wall and Benches

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Wall and Benches
A wall and two benches in a Japanese garden.

Wall and Benches. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall and two benches in a Japanese garden.

This is a “quiet photograph” made at the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon a few years ago when we were there for a family visit. It was not a photography trip, and I had intentionally travelled light, carrying only a camera and one lens. But we ended up visiting several of the cities beautiful gardens, and I was glad that I had that equipment with me!

The Japanese Garden is a beautiful and quiet place, and there was a lot to see and photograph there. At the time I made this photograph something about the scene caught my eye, but aside from a bit of quick work a few days later the file sat quietly in my archives for eight years. It was only this past week, as I continued my pandemic exploration of old files, that I came across this subject. After some consideration it seemed to me that this photograph was a candidate for a monochromatic treatment.

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 and Amazon.

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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: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Waterfall and Pond

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Waterfall and Pond
A waterfall empties into a small pool, Portland Japanese Garden.

Waterfall and Pond. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A waterfall empties into a small pool, Portland Japanese Garden.

This is a portrait-orientation photograph of the same subject I recently posted in landscape orientation — a beautiful and quite peaceful scene from the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

With some subjects I go ahead and photograph both waits — vertical and horizontal — for several reasons. My first impressions of a subject while I’m on the scene don’t always turn out to be the rest ones, and sometimes I discover later on that a compositional option I had dismissed actually works well. So I recognize that it is possible that a scene that seems to work in landscape mode may turn out to work in portrait mode. On top of that, and thinking in practical terms, sometimes a particular usage of a photograph demands one or the other orientation, and I’d like to be able to offer both options. In this case, the vertical orientation may emphasize the verticality of the waterfall a bit more than the alternative view.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | 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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Garden Steps

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Garden Steps
Steps follow a curving path down an incline at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Garden Steps. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steps follow a curving path down an incline at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Although it seems odd to me now, this is one of those photographs that I “left behind” at the time I made it. I no longer recall whether that was a matter of becoming distracted by something else or possibly I wasn’t able to see it correctly at the time. I only came across it again recently while doing my shelter-in-place review of my archives of older raw files. I had actually forgotten about the photograph — or, more accurately, a small series of photographs I made of this subject.

The specific location hardly matters, but it is in the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon. My recollection is that as we walked through this part of the garden and descended these steps I paused very briefly to make a few handheld exposures. There were other photographs from that day that seemed took my attention, and I apparently had too little left for this. But when I came upon it last week, it suddenly seemed like it would work in black and white.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | 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.