Tag Archives: mountains

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Travel

Spring On The Plain

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Spring On The Plain
A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Spring On The Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A lone horseback rider heads onto a California plain filled with spring wildflowers and backed by distant snow topped peaks.

Continuing today with the bittersweet 2020 theme that is a combination of “wish I could be here” and “at least I can take a virtual trip,” here is a photograph from Spring back in 2019, when I was out and about and making photographs in several beautiful areas of California. (In truth, my current situation is much better than that of many other people — I don’t have that much to complain about — so let’s focus on the positive here!)

I had spent part of a couple of days exploring and photographing this area as I passed through on my way to a California desert location. Most of the time was spent making pure nature photographs, but I couldn’t resist taking advantage of a serendipitous moment when a group of horseback riders wandered into the foreground of this grand vista of flower-covered plain and distant snow-capped mountains.

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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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog

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Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog
Morning fog dissipates above wildflower-covered California hills.

Spring Flowers, Mountains, And Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning fog dissipates above wildflower-covered California hills.

On this Easter Sunday morning, here in the San Francisco Bay Area it is gray and gloomy, with drizzle falling. I have just returned from my morning “socially-distance” walk around the neighborhood, and few people are to be seen. Normally I like weather like this, but today it reminded me how much life has changed in the past month, and that it will likely not return to the old normal for quite a while. Returning home, I decided to engage in a bit more “virtual spring” escapism and share this photograph.

At about this time a year ago I was out and about. I spent some time in this area on my way to Death Valley, and I made a second, shorter trip, too. On this morning I took a drive down a wide flower-filled valley between hills as morning fog cleared, stopping whenever and wherever I felt like it, enjoying the sun’s warmth, and making photographs.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Dune Waves

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Dune Waves
Waves of sand dunes retreat toward distance desert mountains, Death Valley National Park

Dune Waves. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Waves of sand dunes retreat toward distance desert mountains, Death Valley National Park.

As photographers, we often take a great deal of photographic license in our creative interpretations of subjects. It is a myth, quite frankly, that some kind of objectively “pure” version of a photograph even exists. And if such a thing did exist, it seems like it would usually be a pretty boring thing for everyone except those using photographs as evidence of a thing. Most of us prefer photographs as a mode of expression, a sharing of the photographer’s way of seeing the world. I like to think that a good photograph or group of photographs tells us more about the person making the images than it tells us about the putative subject.

Sand dune landscapes lend themselves especially well to this way to this approach. While they do have a real geological appeal, when you look at them from an aesthetic perspective they are perhaps less about the fact of sand and more about light, line, weight, form, and color. They are never the same — the light changes, the conditions alter them, and each of us sees them differently. In this interpretation I decided to work in high-key and monochrome, hopefully creating a photograph that reflects the quiet stillness of the static wave forms of the dunes.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening

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Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening
A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

Temblor Range HIlls, Spring Evening. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A fence cuts across wildflower-covered Temblor Range hills on a spring evening.

This spring hillside was in early evening sun when I arrived, and as I set up to photograph the green folds and brightly colored wildflowers, the line between sunset light and shadow worked its way up the hillside. I looked around for a composition and thought that the old fence might tie things together.

At about this time each year, depending upon how wet the winter was, the California hills undergo a sudden and relatively brief transformation. First, winter rains cause last year’s seeds to come to life and send up carpets of new, green growth. Then, as the green phase approaches its conclusion, wildflowers show up. In a few places like this one, in an especially good year, entire mountains erupt in brilliant color.

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.

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.