Tag Archives: monochrome

Shoreline, Mono Lake

Shoreline, Mono Lake
A hazy summer morning along the shareline of Mono Lake.

Shoreline, Mono Lake. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hazy summer morning along the shareline of Mono Lake.

Perhaps you see a few of my photographs and read the accompanying text… in which case you may already know my Mono Lake story: I’m attracted to the immense space and profound quite and stillness of the place, more so than specific features such as tufa towers. Perhaps because I’ve been to those popular features many times, I now tend to poke around in somewhat more obscure places or try to see other aspects of the lake and its surrounding basin.

I made this photograph on a clear sky day when haze — perhaps from wildfires? — was obscuring distant features on the far side of Mono Basin. With the light come from above and beyond those far ranges the atmosphere was luminous and seemed to almost glow. Winds were creating patterns on the surface of the lake. I included some of the near shore, too, perhaps to more clearly show the immense size of the lake.


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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Table and Window

Table and Window
A table in a room at the Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Table and Window. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A table in a room at the Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Considering its location, jammed into an urban block in Portland, this garden is a remarkably quiet and serene place. In fact, my visit convinced me that this feeling is contagious, altering the attitudes and behavior of visitors who come through the gates from that urban environment.

We had a few afternoon hours to enjoy the place some years back on a visit to Portland, a visit on which we went to many of the city’s lovely gardens. This photograph looks into a small room, across a game table, through a window, and out into the garden.


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.

Garden Gate

Garden Gate
An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Garden Gate. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Some years back our youngest son and our daughter-in-law lived in the lovely and quirky city of Portland, Oregon. Since it is (just barely, if you have a lot of endurance!) a one-day drive from the San Francisco Bay Area we managed to get up there somewhat regularly, and we came to like the place a lot. Among other things, it is a city of gardens, including several that we visited more than once. This photograph of a stone walkway passing through a gate comes from the lovely Japanese Garden.

Having roots in a non-west-coast part of America (long ago, but they stick with you), I can understand how the character of towns along the Pacific coast is difficult for some to understand in other parts of the country. But Oregon is a wonderful place that is hard to characterize in any single way. There is a long tradition of a kind of counter-culture there, but there is also a large suburban population. Don’t believe the simplistic, politicized claims that the city is “under siege” or a hotbed of some kind of awfulness that requires federal intervention.


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.

Building and Reflections

Buiolding and Reflections
One Front Street in black and white, San Francisco.

Building and Reflections. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One Front Street in black and white, San Francisco.

At this point it is probably no secret that I like photographing urban subjects — not just nature — and that the urban landscape is near the top of my list. I’m fascinated by city subjects, from the bustle of people-filled scenes to the almost abstract possibilities found in modern buildings.

This is an often-photographed San Francisco building that towers above pedestrians in the central downtown area. The parallel curved structures extending skyward capture and reflect light in all sorts of interesting ways. Here the reflections of surrounding structures merge with the forms of the building itself.


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.

Blog | About | Flickr | FacebookEmail

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


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