Tag Archives: monument

Photographs: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

At Nelson’s Column

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At Nelson's Column
People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

At Nelson’s Column. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People near Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square, London

Everyone has to go to Trafalgar Square when visiting London, right? AT least if it is your first visit, which this was for us. I have previously shared a rather different version of this photograph — one rendered in monochrome and in a 4:3 aspect ratio. While looking through old photographs recently as part of my pandemic project, I came across it once again and saw it in a different way.

I now think that the colors in the image are appealing — I originally felt they were irrelevant. I find some interesting patterns and relationships among them. I also discovered that, for me anyway, there are a lot of interesting little things going on among the people in this photograph. While I don’t think it is a photograph that works primarily on the basis of its larger patterns (though there are some of those), I do think that it is the sort that becomes more interesting when I take the time to study it carefully. (I know. That’s kind of hard to do in a little social media jpg. A big print would work better for that.)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Fractured Canyon Wall

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Fractured Canyon Wall
Fractured canyon wall detail.

Fractured Canyon Wall. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fractured canyon wall detail.

With this photograph I believe I’ll conclude my nostalgic return to photographs from my 2012 autumn visits to Utah. It was a special autumn for my in Utah, as I was able to visit twice for a period adding up to almost a full month. On the second visit I was able to travel into some out-of-the-way locations, a few of which were shared with me by people who live and photograph there. That was quite a privilege. It has been too long since I’ve photographed there. Perhaps I can return next year?

This is simply a bit of canyon wall, and the specific location is hardly relevant at all — you can find rock like this all over Utah. Part of what attracted me to this little vignette was the boundary between darker old rock and the lighter rock below where some of the older material has obviously broken away. The surface of the upper, darker area is fascinating to me, and a close look reveals remarkable colors, textures, and shapes on its surface.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

LIne of Weakness

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LIne of Weakness
Three plants find sustenance in a narrow crack in Utah sandstone.

LIne of Weakness. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three plants find sustenance in a narrow crack in Utah sandstone.

This small scene was in the bottom of a Southern Utah canyon, where the light was richly saturated as it reflected among red rock walls on its way to the canyon floor. This light virtually glows, and it can be quite soft, filling in shadows and saturating colors. In these places and in this light, even the most mundane subject can begin to be appealing.

I’m always fascinated by plants that manage to establish themselves in unlikely spots with minimal chance for success… and then manage to sustain themselves there for years, decades, or even centuries. I first became attracted to such things in the Sierra Nevada, where full grown trees sometimes seem to grow in nearly solid rock. These plants are smaller, but it is quite amazing that such a small crack creates an environment in which they can thrive.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Arch and Shadows

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Arch and Shadows
“Arch and Shadows” — Utah red rock country arch in a shadowed canyon.

It might seem that improbable features like this are everywhere in Southern Utah. While some are familiar icons in national parks like Zion and Arches, similar features are found in less accessible locations. If you poke around enough you can experience them in relative quiet and solitude. I’ve wondered why it is this way in Utah, and I think there are several explanations: such features really are quite common, and some that warrant national park status are in non-park areas for reasons including uneasy compromises with extractive industries.

A group of us wandered into a lovely red rock canyon, inauspicious at the start but with sandstone walls that soon began to tower and close us off from the world beyond. These are intimate places, where your awareness is mostly confined to the space between the canyon bends in front of and behind you, and where the silence is only broken by occasional birdsong and the gentle sounds of water.

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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

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