Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples

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Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples

Spring Growth, Bigleaf Maples. Muir Woods National Monument, California. March 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring leaves sprout on Bigleaf Maple trees beneath the canopy of redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This trio of bigleaf maple trees along the creek beneath the redwood trees at Muir Woods was just starting to develop spring leaves when I visited near the end of March. They are gently illuminated by diffuse light from an overcast sky filtering down through the redwood tree canopy. I’d like to revisit these trees in a few weeks when their leaves achieve the impressively large size that this tree is known for.

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: Acer macrophyllum, bigleaf, oregon, maple, leaf, big, sprout, bud, trunk, branch, twig, grove, forest, tree, redwood, muir woods, national, monument, park, golden gate, recreation, area, marin county, california, usa, nature, moss, scenic, travel, landscape, stock, dark, light, morning, filtered

Stories

A Bit of Irony About Today’s Photo

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Today’s photograph (the earlier one of Alcatraz in lovely morning light) was made at the tremendously popular parking lot, I mean viewpoint at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. On fairly normal days, especially in the afternoon, it can be so crowded there that you simply cannot find a parking space.

On this morning, with this astonishing light, there was only one other person there when I arrived. A couple more showed up as I hung around and made photographs. That was 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” (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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: San Francisco

Alcatraz and San Francisco Bay, Morning Light

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Alcatraz and San Francisco Bay, Morning Light

Alcatraz and San Francisco Bay, Morning Light. San Francisco, California. March 21, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early mornng sun breaks through clouds over San Francisco Bay and illuminates the water to silhouette Alcatraz Island.

This weekend I visited Muir Woods again. I was on the road early enough to arrive at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge by dawn. Even if I am headed somewhere else, I almost always stop at the north end to see what sort of light is shining on the City and the bay – and this morning low clouds from an incoming weather system were sweeping across the bay as sunlight broke through intermittently to light the water on the bay. Before heading on to Muir Woods I made a series of photographs of this light, including this one of Alcatraz.

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: san francisco, bay, california, usa, water, alcatraz, island, prison, park, historic, oakland, treasure island, bridge, golden, light, clouds, beams, silhouette, tower, building, travel, historic, area, storm, birds, landscape, scenic, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Building, Night

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Abandoned Building, Night

Abandoned Building, Night. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 8, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned building photographed under artificial light at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is another photograph from the early March visit to historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard with The Nocturnes for a round of (almost) full moon night photography. I’m not actually sure what this building is or was. I just happened to look up a deserted alley while walking down Nimitz Avenue, and I saw  it lit up by lurid sodium vapor lighting. For that reason the colors of the original photograph are a bit much. I had to make some subjective decisions about how to best tone them down. The brightly lit area at the lower left of the building was almost blown out in the red channel from this wild light. I decided to keep a bit of the yellowish tone but reduce it to a more “normal” looking level.

This highlights one thing I enjoy about working with night photography images made in the presence of artificial light. The whole notion of “accurate” is fairly meaningless. First, you almost never make a final photograph that is as dark as the scene actually was – in truth, you cannot “see” a scene like this at night in the way a camera can. Once you realize this, concerns about coming up with  “accurate” color rendition seem sort of pointless – and I just use my judgment and work toward a rendition that seems right to me.

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: mare island, naval, shipyard, minsy, night, photography, nocturnes, vallejo, california, usa, abandoned, industrial, structure, building, window, door, perspective, sky, steps, ladder, wire, railing, distressed, old, architecture, artificial, light, urban, historic, shadow