Tag Archives: monochrome

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Pond, Fog, and Sky

July 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A few migratory birds on the reflecting surface of a wetland pond on a foggy morning

This is one of a series of three photographs that will appear here during the next few days. As I post each of them I will have a bit more to say about the ideas behind the series, which means that story will be incomplete until they are all posted. (It may remain a bit incomplete even after I post them all, but that is a different issue.) I’ll use the first photograph to say something about the circumstance that led to them. I’ll also point out that if your taste runs to big, monumental, extravagant landscapes… these don’t work that way. They are, I think, much more quiet, subtle, and introspective images. I have made small test prints, and I think that these may perhaps lend themselves to large prints on matte paper.

Nearly a half-year ago I was in California’s San Joaquin Valley, with the primary goal being to photograph migratory birds, but also with the companion goal of photographing the minimalist landscape, the expansive sky, and the changing winter atmosphere. At one point I saw a scene that was mostly sky — the actual sky and its reflection in large, still wetlands ponds — and light diffused by tule fog. I had a sort of intuitive idea about what I saw in these scenes (which I may describe more in a follow-up post) but I wasn’t quite certain how to interpret them in the post-camera part of the process. I looked at them shortly after making the images and then left them behind as I moved on to other work. Very recently I was going back through older photographs, came upon these, and a way to interpret them as black and white photographs immediately seemed obvious. I’ll write a bit more about that soon, but here I’ll end with the thought that sometimes photographs have to “age” a bit before I/we can see them for what they are and what they might be.

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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Music & Musicians, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Fly Space Rigging

July 19, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Looking straight up into the fly space of the California Theater, San Jose

As I work on my three-year project photographic classical musicians, I spend a lot of time around their rehearsal and performance spaces. In addition to photographing the people, I have also photographed the environment within which they work, and not always the obvious parts that are visible to those who attend concerts and see the formal appearance of the stage.

A lot of interesting things exist in the backstage world. In contrast to the stage itself, at least as viewed from the perspective of the audience, this is a world seems as much industrial as artistic, but even that “industrial” aspect is an interesting combination of some very modern technology (such as lighting and sound systems) and some very old technology (the equipment for hoisting sets and other equipment on and off the stage). This photograph looks straight up into that equipment and the catwalk near the highest point in the backstage fly space.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Fog, Trees, and Pond

July 18, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tule fog nearly obscures a San Joaquin Valley pond and surrounding trees

This particular fog condition developed quickly as we were out in the San Joaquin Valley early on a winter morning photographing birds. The winter tule fog in the Valley is often quite thin — so thin, in fact, that you can sometimes seen the stars and moon above on a night when you can barely make out object 100 feet in front of you. This was that sort of fog, but a gentle breeze was also moving it around and changing the conditions from moment to moment. I recall coming to this spot, where the marshland water extends for some distance, and noticing that the trees were alternating between the state of “barely visible” and “not visible at all,” and the fog was brightly lit from the morning sun and sky.

This sort of subject is a bit challenging to photograph and to work with in post. The contrast is obviously very low, and details are hard to see, making focus a bit tricky. And the low contrast almost certainly requires a bit of work in post to get the right combination of diffuse, luminous atmosphere and enough detail to produce an image that makes sense. Here, since the sky was actually quite bright, I wanted to push the sky close to white but still retain the subtle shapes of the high clouds. And beyond all of that, I wanted the photograph to evoke the feelings of stillness and mystery that arise on such a morning.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur, Winter

July 10, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a companion to a photograph of this scene that I posted earlier. The primary difference here is the vertical composition. I’m still thinking about which I prefer. Each has its attractions. The horizontal (or “landscape”) orientation shows more of the “point” itself where the lighthouse is located and more of the ocean off the beach. On the other hand, this version seems to me to bring more attention to the water and the curve of the waves leading toward the point and the horizon.

Point Sur is a wild place, often with strong winds and big surf coming straight on towards the beach, which faces north or northwest. The point is connected to the main land by a low, sandy peninsula, and it is easy to imagine it being overwhelmed by the sea, perhaps during a tsunami. I have read that the lighthouse was originally a very isolated place when it was first constructed in the late 1800s, with the lighthouse keepers and their families largely cut off for months at a time, to the point that they grew their own crops. Of course, today it is easy to forget that relatively recent history, since thousands of visitors now pass by daily along the Pacific Coast Highway.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: monochrome

Pond, Fog, and Sky

Fly Space Rigging

Fog, Trees, and Pond

Point Sur, Winter

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