Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Urban/Street

Laundry, Morning Sun

December 21, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light shines on a building wall with drying laundry, Radda, Italy

If my memory is correct, I made this photograph on just about our final morning in the Chianti region of Italy in the summer of 2016. We had spent a week with family at a place in the hills, exploring the vineyards and olive groves of the region, and visiting the hilltop village of Radda several times. (It was one of the nearest towns in this rural area.)

We visited again on this morning, arriving early enough that the narrow streets were not crowded, though vendors were starting to set up shop for the day. Because we were in no hurry, I took time to wander off from the main street and look around a few out-of-the-way spots, including this little street up near the highest point of the town, where buildings were packed tightly together. The brilliant summer light was just hitting the wall of this building.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

The Cranes Return

December 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lesser sandhill cranes return to wetland marshes in fading dusk light

There is a natural cycle to the day during the winter at these San Joaquin Valley wetland marshes — actually there are multiple cycles. One is the cycle of the animals themselves, responding to the dawn, moving to daytime activities, coming and going, then settling in once again for the night. Another is the cycle of the photographer or viewer of this wildlife, whose own patterns are inextricably linked to those of the birds and the light, but who also may sometimes choose when and where to focus efforts.

The midday and early afternoon hours are, at least most of the time, relatively quiet and slow. It makes sense that during the times of day when conditions are the most stable that the birds would also be more settled. (There are seasonal exceptions, including the late winter time when the winter residence of many birds is coming to an end and another migration cycle is about to begin.) The evening brings another transition, and one of the final and most impressive moments often comes after sunset with the dusk fly-in of the sandhill cranes. Long strings of these birds appear (usually from the south in this place), flying low and straight paths toward the places where they will land and spend the night.

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

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Wildfire Smoke, Mono Lake

December 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tufa formations, the vast expanse of Mono Lake, and smoke covered desert mountains

This nowhere near the first time I have photographed from this location, though it is the first time I have worked with conditions like these. Quite a bit earlier this morning I began to photograph before dawn, quickly realizing that the thickening smoke from a nearby wildfire was blanketing Mono Basin and creating atmospheric effects ranging from very dark sky, to clouds illuminated from behind, to drifting layers. After photographing near the lake I headed to a higher elevation area to the north, photographed there, and then headed back down toward Mono Lake.

As I descended I soon began to enter the fringes of the drifting smoke clouds. Lit from behind, the clouds glowed from within and softened the edges of elements of the landscape. Coming past this spot along the edge of the lake I noticed that some tufa structures formed a near semicircle near the shore, giving a bit of definition to a scene that was otherwise quite soft.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Morning, Wildfire Smoke

December 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Wildfire smoke layer drift, above Mono Lake at sunrise

The subject of this photograph comes about as close to being insubstantial as possible. When I began photographing before dawn on this September morning, Mono Lake was still mostly visible, though a large cloud of wildfire smoke was gathering to the southeast and beginning to drift toward the lake. First, layers of smoke began to stretch individually across the lake as sunrise approached. As more of them arrived they began to completely obscure the more distant landscape and to mute the colors and details of objects that were even closer. If you look at this photograph for a moment you can begin to see what remains — a bit of a peninsula with some tufa formations along the right margin, and in the lower center and stretching toward the left some soft reflections of morning light on the surface of the lake.

For a moment when I first saw the smoke I was disappointed that it might interfere with my photography, but it only took a moment to realize that these were special and beautiful conditions not likely to occur that often. The smoke and the morning backlight rendered details almost invisible, only seen faintly through gaps in the smoke. The smoke itself, dividing into layers and taking on subtle colors from the morning back-light, filled the scene with nearly abstract shapes. But before long smoke filled in even more, and soon it was too opaque to photograph at all.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: light

Laundry, Morning Sun

The Cranes Return

Tufa, Wildfire Smoke, Mono Lake

Morning, Wildfire Smoke

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.