Tag Archives: leaves

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain

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Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain

Autumn Oak Tree, Upper Yosemite Fall, Rain. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A colorful autumn oak tree stands in a meadow on a rainy day with Upper Yosemite Fall beyond – Yosemite Valley, California.

A photograph from my rainy weekend in Yosemite Valley back on November 1-2, 2008. It rained the entire time I was there, but this was wonderful because these conditions intensified the fall colors and created wonderful atmosphere and effects of mist, fog, and clouds. Here a nearby oak tree with autumn colors is seen with Upper Yosemite Fall faintly visible through the mist, and flowing strongly after coming back to life from the rain.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: yosemite, valley, national park, fall, upper, cliff, wall, oak, tree, autumn, fall, season, color, gold, brown, yellow, green, forest, meadow, waterfall, grass, rain, cloud, mist, leaf, leaves, trunk, branch, nature, scenic, travel, landscape, weather, stock, california, usa

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Winter Tree Shadow on Purple Wall

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Winter Tree Shadow on Purple Wall

Winter Tree Shadow on Purple Wall. San Jose, California. January 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. larger

The shadow of a winter tree falls across a purple wall in a San Jose, California parking lot.

On Saturday, as I wrote earlier, one the subjects I focused on during my urban photography walk was the shadows of winter trees, which seem to be everywhere this time of year when the sun is so low in the sky. The wall of this building really is this wild shade of purple, and I like the way the tree shadows fall across it and are offset by the almost monochromatic asphalt of the bit of parking lot showing at the bottom of the frame.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: purple, wall, brick, cinder block, lines, horizontal, vertical, pattern, structure, parking lot, winter, tree, branch, shadow, leaves, parking lot, asphalt, willow glen, san jose, california, usa, urban, street, architecture, stock, color

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hub Cap City

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Hub Cap City
“Hub Cap City” — The Hub Cap City store in San Jose, California

The Hub Cap City has been a landmark of sorts on old San Carlos Street west of downtown San Jose for many years. I think it is easy to see why… :-)

(Update 2026: Sadly this storefront is no more. “Hubcap City” lives on, but in a different location, where it is now more or less a lot full of old stuff on a nondescript street corner.)

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storefronts and Tree, First Street

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Storefronts and Tree, First Street

Storefronts and Tree, First Street. San Jose, California. December 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dilapidated storefront and a tree along First Street in San Jose, California.

This is another in a series of photographs that may be a bit troubling for those of you who follow my landscape and nature photography. Try to think of it as “urban landscape” – that’s what I do! :-)

I have my oldest son, Brandon, to thank for this photo and others in this series. He is a big fan of what I call “urban hiking” – long walks in central city urban areas, often industrial in nature. We finally had the opportunity to do a three hour urban hike in the downtown San Jose area just after Christmas, and we both brought our cameras along. Several things caught my eye about this scene: the wild colors of the paint and some of the window decorations on the lower floor, the shape for the tree in front of the building, the wash of light from across the street and behind my position as I shot this, and the regular horizontal patterns of road, curb, sidewalk, windows, moulding, and more windows.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: store, shop, building, windows, doors, reflections, pipe, merchandise, tree, trunk, branch, leaves, street, lane, sidewalk, curb, bricks, tile, store, downtown, urban, street, first, san jose, california, usa, stock