Tag Archives: layers

Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

An Illusion

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An Illusion
A complex juxtaposition of street elements, San Francisco

An Illusion. San Francisco, California. May 20, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A complex juxtaposition of street elements, San Francisco

I’m going to have a little fun with you today with this photograph. It might be a bit of a mystery and it contains one or more illusions, and more than one world. I’ll let you ponder that.

I made the photograph on one of my photography walks in San Francisco, which usually are dominated by street photography, some architecture, and even a bit of urban and near-urban landscape, all shot handheld while on the move. The area where I made this photograph is a bustling part of newly developing San Francisco, with lots of traffic (I waited for a break), lots of expensive new housing, and sometimes a lot of people.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Canyon, Contorted Formations

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Canyon, Contorted Formations
Contorted geologic formations along a narrow desert canyon

Canyon, Contorted Formations. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Contorted geologic formations along a narrow desert canyon

Almost inevitably, one’s first impression of Death Valley National Park is that of huge open desert spaces, with salt flats, occasional dunes, and vast alluvial fans surrounded by rugged and arid mountain ranges. These things are impressive — that scale of the landscape reminds me of visits to The Yukon and Alaska — and the fact that roads run though and past them helps make them seem central. But with time to explore a bit more, it becomes clear that there is more to the landscape than first meets the eye. Among these features are the uncounted canyons that thread their way into the mountain ranges.

We visited a few of them during this year’s spring visit to the park, including this one that we hiked into one afternoon. The terrain of these canyons is remarkable variable, ranging from shallow and open to very narrow with vertical walls. This spot fits somewhere in the middle — the walls here are indeed very high, but they tilt back a bit from the vertical and allow a bit more light down to the gravel wash at the bottom. This particular section especially impressed me with the wildly contorted layers revealed in the cliff above. This spot is near the bottom of one of the ranges in the “basin and range” geology of the area, and the old strata are twisted and folded in all directions.

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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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

Desert Wash and Mountains

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Desert Wash and Mountains
A desert wash cuts though golden layers toward mountains and Death Valley

Desert Wash and Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. March 29, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A desert wash cuts though golden layers toward mountains and Death Valley

I made this in another area of Death Valley where, despite its popularity, I have never really quite felt comfortable making photographs. The area is along a loop road that ascends the alluvial fan along the valley edge and then passed across and along some very beautiful washes, giving access to areas of strikingly colored rock formations. The formations are intriguing, but they don’t move be photographically. At least not yet — I won’t rule out the possibility that I’ll someday find a way to “see” them.

However, at one of the most popular stops, when I look the opposite direction, I see this absolutely lovely wash curving gracefully back and forth as it descends through golden rock and toward darker hills before taking a turn and heading down the giant alluvial fan toward the great basin of Death Valley. Late in the day, just before the sun drops beyond tall mountains in the west, there is a brief window of warm, golden light, even on a day like this one with distant clouds in the sky.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Windows in Windows

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Windows in Windows
Layers of windows and reflections at night, illuminated by ship yard security lights

Windows in Windows. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Layers of windows and reflections at night, illuminated by ship yard security lights

This is a prosaic subject that, to me at least, becomes more mysterious the more I look at it. As I walked down a very familiar alley way — perhaps the most familiar one to typical Mare Island night photographers, and a place I have been in many, many times — I looked at parts of it differently. Perhaps this was because the alley was closed off this time or maybe because one of the huge overhead structures that looms able this area was covered with immense scaffolding. Possibly it was the fact that interior lights in a neighboring building were, for the first time I can remember, still on and shedding light on the alley.

In any case, I went straight to this corner window that I had not really even noticed in the past. I was attracted by they interesting reflected light and the converging lines of the window frame, and then I began to notice the many layers of light and shape in the subject — especially the light coming thought another set of windows around the far corner of the building.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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