Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dunes, First Light

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Dunes, First Light
First light on Death Valley sand dunes

Dunes, First Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light on Death Valley sand dunes

No matter how many times I experience it — and I’ve experienced it a lot! — the instant when the first sunlight suffuses the landscape is always magical. Invariably, it sneaks up on me, even though I plan to be there for it and have probably calculated the precise time of the light’s arrival. Perhaps it is because I’m engaged in photographing the pre-sunrise light, a phenomenon that also is transitory. To this day, it still somehow surprises me when this light arrives in complete silence and stillness. Somehow it seems like there should be music or a rising wind… but it is just the light.

Sand dunes provide unending possibilities for photography, and they are a remarkable canvas on which the light can paint. In the middle of the day this sand would be a sort of bland off-white color. But for a few moments at the start and end of the day the sand takes on almost gaudy colors of sky and sunlight, and the soft shadows both emphasize the forms of the dunes and produce their own shapes and lines. Non-photographers probably wonder how we can force ourselves out of bed a couple hours before dawn and drive or hike long distances the pre-dawn darkness. We wonder how the rest of the world can sleep through it!

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees In Sun, Cliff In Shadow

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Trees In Sun, Cliff In Shadow
Sun from behind an ice-rimmed granite monolith lights a row of trees at the edge of a meadow

Trees In Sun, Cliff In Shadow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sun from behind an ice-rimmed granite monolith lights a row of trees at the edge of a meadow

I made this photograph on a day of somewhat ephemeral conditions. There had been snow the day before — light snow, but in very cold conditions. On this morning the storm had passed, but it was so cold that a thin layer of snow was still there. It was in the meadows, on the branches of trees, and collected on every small irregularity on the granite cliffs above Yosemite Valley. At the moment I made this photograph the sunlight, shining through thin clouds, had just arrived on the closest trees, while those in the distance remained in cold shadows.

The light and the snow patterns on the face of the granite monolith are remarkable. The small amount of snow — perhaps only and inch or two — brought the patterns of cracks and small ledges into relief, making visible features that we might overlook on a warmer day And the light on the cliff is rather blue since the face is illuminated not by direct sunlight, but instead by the giant “light panel in the sky,” which happens to be very blue!

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

Windows, Brick Building, Night

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Windows, Brick Building, Night
“Windows, Brick Building, Night” — Light from the interior of an industrial building spills through windows and into an alley

This building was a surprise to me. As I recall from past visits, I’m pretty sure that it had been more or less abandoned at one point, and I typically found it completely dark when I photographed there at night. I specifically recall photographing around it and having to content with a very dark environment, the sort where exposures of many minutes were necessary. But on this visit I found it, instead, to be a source of light. The interior was clear and well-lit, and large expanses of windows allowed the light to spread from the building onto the surroundings.

On a slightly technical level a few things seemed notable about photographing this structure. First, it is an example of how well current photographic technology can handle some very challenging light situations. The subjects in this photograph ranged from a bare lightbulb inside the building (visible as the brightest area in the central window) to virtually black shadows on the close side of the building wall. Yet a single exposure was sufficient to capture enough image data to protect the highlights and retain some detail in even the darkest areas. The second observation has to do with the inevitable changes that time brings to places like this. I have photographed here for about fifteen years, and on this visit I saw many changes. I lamented many of them, especially the places now off limits, knocked down, or modified almost beyond recognition. But at the same time, the re-opening of some of the old structures has made them more photographically interesting — as in the case of this building where there is now sufficient light for photography.

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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: Architecture, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Ship Yard Buildings, Crane

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Ship Yard Buildings, Crane,Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.
“Ship Yard Buildings, Crane” — Weathered ship yard buildings illuminated by saturated colors of artificial lighting

I recently had a chance to return to this ship yard facility near Vallejo, California to work on night photography. This is the place where I first tried that genre approximately fifteen years ago. It was more or less on a whim — I read that someone was inviting photographers to come up to Mare Island, in conjunction with the annual Flyway Festival, and find out about night photography. I knew almost nothing about it, but decided to give it a try. Since that time I’ve been hooked. I’ve returned to photograph here often during the intervening decade and a half, and my night photography expanded from that beginning to incorporate other subjects and places. (Recently I have focused on night street photography done with small handheld cameras.)

This photograph is an example of several things that intrigue me about photographing at night. Scenes that might seem mundane in daylight are transformed at night. Not only do many distractions simply disappear, but the light itself, especially in areas with varied artificial illumination, transforms these subjects. In many places LED lights have replaced the wild mix of tungsten, fluorescent, sodium vapor, and other sources today — an unfortunate development in the visual sense, as LED light is more or less like daylight. But in places like this one, the colors of the light become intense. Here the intense green of a large work light predominates. Another appeal of night photography is that it lets me make photographs of things that my eyes cannot see. In the ambient lighting I could only barely see the details of this scene. But with a long exposure there is enough light to reveal hidden features, a pure example of “seeing what the camera sees.”

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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