Tag Archives: monochrome

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow’s Edge, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana

September 26, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees grow at the edges of Tuolumne Meadows as Lembert Dome and Mount Dana rise beyond, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph includes a bunch of Tuolumne Meadows icons familiar to most anyone who has spent time there – and I’ve spent a lot of time in and around this area over the years! The first obvious icon is the meadow itself, here near the “lower” section before it turns away from the highway and the Tuolumne River heads off towards Glen Aulin and eventually to the abomination of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The two prominences rising beyond the meadow are both icon. The closer of the two is Lembert Dome, well known to almost all visitors, especially the many who have hiked to its summit to experience the panoramic view of the area. Beyond Lembert Dome is Mount Dana, the second-highest peak in Yosemite. It is located on the eastern boundary of the park right above the entrance at Tioga Pass. For me, there are other icons in this scene as well, though they may be more personal. The lodgepole pine trees silhouetted along the right edge of the frame are found all over the region. The backlit haze, formed as the morning sun just clears the Sierra crest, is a condition that I strongly identify with Tuolumne – and it is a frequent photographic subject.

This simple shot posed some real technical challenges. Perhaps most obviously, the scene includes an extremely large dynamic range between the very bright areas of sunlit haze along the right shoulder of Mount Dana and the dark silhouettes of the backlit trees. In some situations I might make two exposures and blend them in post, but that does not work so well when thing tree trunks and branches stand against the sky. This is a single exposure that just barely contained the brightest tones, and from which I was able to recover just enough detail in the shadows. The composition might seem a bit odd to some, with the dark mass of the silhouetted trees very close to the right edge of the frame. The idea was to create a sense that the trees, or at least an observer among the trees, is looking out from them into the light-filled open space of the meadow.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Dock Facilities, Staten Island Ferry

September 14, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pilings, piers, and other docking facilities for the Staten Island Ferry.

This is another of my Staten Island Ferry photographs from last summer. Although it may be a bit hard to see in this small jpg, I was impressed by the extensive wooden structures at the Staten Island end of the route at the ferry terminal. Pilings are placed about as close together as possible, and in densely packed rows. Beyond them, a walkway and wooden fence rises, and beyond that more similar structures. In front of all of that are several very dilapidated looking wooden structures that seem to me falling apart and almost useless… for whatever it is that they were designed for.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Columbus Tower and Transamerica Pyramid

September 12, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two downtown San Francisco landmarks juxtaposed, the Columbus Tower and the Transamerica Pyramid.

Who says I can’t photograph icons! The one on the left is probably a bit better known than the one on the right. The taller and more modern building is, probably obviously, the Transamerica pyramid. It has now become a definitive part of the San Francisco skyline, although I understand that it was quite controversial when it was constructed, with lots of people regarding it as an eyesore.

The other building is the Columbus Tower, located on Columbus Street sort of between North Beach and the Financial District, though certainly having more in common with the former than the latter. The finely detailed sections of the exterior are copper and have that well-known copper green color. According to Wikipedia and other sources, the building is also known as the Sentinel Building and dates to the 1906 earthquake era, having been started before the quake and finished shortly after.

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

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

September 1, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A steep and rocky island backed by coastal bluffs and a distant shoreline, northern California coast, Mendocino County.

The last time I passed by this section of the California coast highway in Mendocino County, I also stopped to photograph this scene – but was less happy with the result. This section of the coastline, like much of the meeting between California and the Pacific Ocean, consists largely of high coastal bluffs, interspersed with the steep canyons where creeks and rivers meet the ocean, with many rocky islands ranging from tiny to huge. The two-peaked island in this large cove fits more into the huge category and it is backed by two fingers of land where the high bluffs extend toward the ocean. In the far distance, a section of curving coastline is barely visible through the haze.

Recently someone asked me about how I decide whether a photograph will be black and white rather than color. I admitted – and it turns out that many feel the same – that often I am not certain when I make the exposure. Roughly speaking, the black and white photographs come about in perhaps three ways. Sometimes I like the subject but the color rendition just isn’t working the way I had hoped, so I try it in black and white and “discover” that I like it that way in post. On other occasions, at the time of exposure I sort of wonder if it might work in black and white and I make mental note to try it that way in post. In the third case, I “know” (with only a small amount of doubt) that the image is going to end up in black and white and I shoot the scene with that in mind. This is one of those photographs – I was almost certain that it would end up in black and white as I stood high on a bluff next to highway 1 making the exposure.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: monochrome

Meadow’s Edge, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana

Dock Facilities, Staten Island Ferry

Columbus Tower and Transamerica Pyramid

Island, Coastal Bluffs, and Distant Shore

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