Tag Archives: lean

Fractured Pinnacles

Fractured Pinnacles
Fractured Sierra Nevada pinnacles near Whitney Trail Crest.

Fractured Pinnacles. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fractured Sierra Nevada pinnacles near Whitney Trail Crest.

Over years and decades of travel in the Sierra high country I have continued to notice new things — it is impossible to know everything about such a complex and rich subject. The highest points always appealed to me, and I remember the first time that I really noticed the rugged terrain of the highest ridges. It was on my first traverse of Forester Pass, the entrance to the monumental terrain of the Upper Kern drainage. The pass is a land of broken rock, and as I crossed it I took note of the higher ridges stretching away.

This scene is from another busy area of the high country — generally speaking, the Sierra Crest running south from Mount Whitney. The High Sierra Trail rises to this crest and from there a lateral trail follows the ridge out to the summit of Mount Whitney. I recall making this photograph quite a few years ago and, at the time, thinking about what I wanted it to look like. But other images were more pressing, and it sat in the archive until I recently produced this monochromatic rendition.


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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Man at the Corner

Man at the Corner
A worker leans against a wall on a Le Marais corner.

Man at the Corner. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A worker leans against a wall on a Le Marais corner.

Sticking with the Paris street photography theme a bit longer (perhaps quite a bit longer?), here is another photograph from Le Marais. Like several of the other recently-shared photographs, I made this one within a few moments of my “Je Suis Bleu” photograph featuring three women and a fascinating poster-covered wall. Initially that photograph was so central in my experience that day that I overlooked others made right before and after it. Writing an article about that photograph lured me back to the other raw files, and I ended up “discovering” several other interesting images.

This fellow figures in several of the exposures I made. There’s another where he is in the middle of a street, part of a larger group of pedestrians that is fronted by an “in your face” image of a walking woman. (You may see that one, too, before long.) Here he appears alone, just around the corner from the location of the “Je Suis Bleu” photograph. Viewers with sharp eyes may recognize the chalk head on the wall at 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” 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.

Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove

Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove
Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove

Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove. Muir Woods National Monument, California. August 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old maple tree leans above a bed of redwood sorrel in a redwood grove at Muir Woods National Monument

Of the group of photographs I made on this early August morning at Muir Woods National Monument, this may be the darkest scene of all. Almost no direct sunlight had yet penetrated down into this section of the forest, with the exception of a few odd beams striking here and there among the higher branches, and one coming across the forest floor from the right side of the frame.

Redwood trees here are generally quite straight and bulky. With the exception of those that have fallen or are leaning over, they forma a continuous pattern of vertical lines. Breaking up this verticality are the curving shapes of trees like the laurel, and in this scene a thick, old maple tilts wildly to the right at a 45-degree angle, and is the form that initially attracted me to this spot. The forest floor here is almost covered with redwood sorrel, a clover-like plant that puts out small blossoms earlier in the year. The light, of course, is soft and the whole scene is in deep shade.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Tour de France: Not there to photograph it… but I do have photos of riders

Lance Armstrong, Prologue, 2009 Amgen Tour of California

Lance Armstrong, Prologue, 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Sacramento, California. February 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Astana’s Lance Armstrong negotiates the first turn during the prologue stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California bicycle race.

If you are following the Tour de France (Go Lance! Second to Contador is great!) you might be interested in some of my bicycle racing photography. I’ve photographed the Tour of California several times and had the opportunity to get up close to riders and racing action. You’ll even see a couple close shots of Lance…

keywords: lance, armstrong, astana, bike, bicycle, time trial, race, road, tour, of , california, amgen, turn, lean, fast, pro, professional, stage, sacramento, california, usa, sports, stock, team