Tag Archives: north

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Urban/Street

A Shadow

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A Shadow
A shadow falls across a Seattle sidewalk and roll-up door

A Shadow. Seattle, Washington. September 8, ,2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shadow falls across a Seattle sidewalk and roll-up door

In early September I had the opportunity to spend several days in the Seattle area. I was actually there on a sort of business — not photography related — but I did have enough spare time that I could do some photography, too. It turned out that I had two opportunities. On nearly the last time of the trip I managed the long drive to the North Cascades, where I photographed in the Mount Shuksan and Artist Point area for an afternoon. Before that I managed to head to downtown Seattle for a bout of street photography. This photograph comes from that visit.

When I do street photography I work in ways that are both related to my landscape photography and also different. In both cases I tend to only select general subjects ahead of time, preferring to head out and explore and see what I can find. In both cases I am looking not just for “depictions” of the subjects, but also for bits of visually interesting material that might stand on their own outside of the specific location context. Of course, I use different equipment — for street I leave the tripod behind and I work with a small camera, typically using one or two small prime lenses. As I walk, often slowly, I am attentive to what is around me. I am discrete with the camera, only lifting it in front of me when I make a photograph. I often spot something, make the photograph, and move on quickly. (Not always, though. Some subjects demand more patience or are worth a careful exploration.) I may photograph people, architecture, or fragments of the scene. This is one of those fragments, an odd shadow falling across the slightly warped geometry of the metal roll-up door, and offset by the tilting sidewalk below.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Evening Clouds

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Clearing Evening Clouds
The moon above clearing evening clouds over the John Muir Wilderness

Clearing Evening Clouds. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The moon above clearing evening clouds over the John Muir Wilderness

We covered a lot of ground on this afternoon and evening, and this was almost the last photograph I made on this day. Earlier we had climbed above the forest surrounding the lake where we were camped, emerging into a big, open meadow with expansive views in all directions. From here we took off, individually and in small groups, to explore higher areas, walking cross-country over the glaciated granite landscape to ascend ridges and reach various lakes. I noticed that the sun was about to pass behind mountains to the west, so I descended back into the valley I had come from and worked my way back down the course of the creek that drained it.

Before long we were back in the alpine meadow areas where we had started, and I found a high spot with an open view and started making a few final photographs as sunset came to the highest peaks and the clouds thinned as they passed in front of the moon. Since the light wasn’t going to last much longer, we pushed on to the main meadow, stopped for a couple of final photographs of alpenglow on peaks across the valley, and then continued on down through forest, arriving back in camp at twilight.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds

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Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds
An alpine meadow as storm clouds build over mountain peaks

Alpine Meadow, Mountains, Storm Clouds. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine meadow as storm clouds build over mountain peaks

Over the next week or two, sandwiched between photographs of other subjects, I will share a set of at least four photographs from more or less this same spot, all made the same day. The location was quite special, a broad meadow just a bit below 11,000′ with views toward an impressive range of peaks on the other side of a river valley. The meadow itself was still green, even though it was the end of August, with wildflowers everywhere. Everyone in our party returned to it frequently, morning and evening, and tried to work with its many subjects.

As I introduce the several photographs of the spot, I’ll try to say something about each one, including something about the vision of the mountains that was on my mind as I created it. There were several things at work in this version. The meadow itself is what initially brought me here, of course, and the bright light that fell on it is beautiful, but the photograph includes other elements. The primary secondary element — or is it actually primary? — is the range of jagged, alpine peaks in the distance. I placed the group of small trees in the foreground to balance the image and to lead the viewer into the scene — from the trees, across the meadow to the small pond, then past the small band of further trees and on to the peaks, and then to the sky. The sky is another important element, and emphasizing it was the reason that I used a wider lens and put the horizon relatively low in the frame. (My skies are frequently constrained to the very top of the image… if I include sky at all.) I was struck by the contrast between the sharp peaks and foreground light and how these elements contrasted with the dark and brooding quality of the sky beyond the peaks, where a large thunderstorm was brewing.

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.

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Beecher’s

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Beecher's
Seattle street scene

Beecher’s. Seattle, Washington. September 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Seattle street scene

I made this photograph on a recent visit of several days to the Seattle, Washington area. Much of this visit was not photographically oriented, but I did have a couple of days that I could devote to photography. Seattle has a particular character that I enjoy — to generalize, it is partly about the light and weather, partly about the nature of the city itself, and partly about the people. The light is softer and lower angled than what I’m used to in California. The “nature” of the city is a bit hard to explain — though it has both the woodsy quality of being built-in forest as another quality that is shared with San Francisco and its older buildings. There is something, again to generalize, about the people as well. Perhaps more beards and more informal and slightly outdoorsy clothing?

I made this photograph in the Pike Place area, and I just happened to notice the little tableau of people, buildings, and colorful bicycles and other elements as I walked by. If the photograph is about anything, that anything might include the contrasting square shapes of the building and the angled lines of the road and sidewalk, plus something about the positioning of the people. It is also about color, from the yellow line to the colorful elements sprinkled throughout the frame.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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