Tag Archives: old

Photographs: Nature

An Ancient One

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An Ancient One
An ancient bristelcone pine standing alone on a rocky ridge, White Mountains.

An Ancient One. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

An ancient bristelcone pine standing alone on a rocky ridge, White Mountains.

During my recent trip to photograph Eastern Sierra fall color I spent one day high in the White Mountains. This range (one of multiple “White Mountains” ranges in the USA!) lies to the east of the central Sierra Nevada, running south from roughly Boundary Peak, the tallest in Nevada, to Westgard Pass, which separates the range, somewhat arbitrarily, from the Inyo Mountains. It is a high, remote, dry, and largely unvisited range in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. Although it rises as high as the Sierra, it lacks that range’s rugged, sculpted peaks — much of its high country is more of a rounded moonscape. It is one of the prime locations for bristlecone pines.

The bristlecone pines are remarkable trees. They are among the very oldest living things — some may be close to 5000 years old. Surprisingly perhaps, the oldest grow in some of the most rugged and least hospitable places. It seems that the struggle strengthens them, and these “old ones” are characterized by resistance to exposure and the appearance of being more dead than alive — the trees sacrifice the majority of their branches in order to sustain a few remaining living portions. Their remarkable character and great age always cause me to slow down and ponder.

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

The Old Cypress

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The Old Cypress
A gnarled old Monterey cypress, Point Lobos State Reserve.

The Old Cypress. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A gnarled old Monterey cypress, Point Lobos State Reserve.

After sufficient decades wandering about in favorite parts of the natural world, I have become personal friends with a few rocks, trees, creeks, and other features in various places. I’m not sure that there’s much logic to which ones caught my attention, and you might pass by quite a few of them without noticing. They could be spots where I first saw something in a particular way, a tree that sheltered me as I waited out a rain shower, a place where I spread out my sleeping bag, a scene where I have paused for years, or almost anything.

This Monterey cypress tree is on that list. It is visible from a short, dead-end spur trail at Point Lobos, and these days you have to duck under low trees and watch out for poison oak as you approach. The tree is on the other side of a little valley at the end of a small cove, and it clings to rocks near the top of a cliff. It teases me by being a bit difficult to photograph. In the best location there isn’t really enough space to set up a tripod, at least not if you want to avoid the poison oak. And just beyond the tree lies a trail, and inevitably a large party passes by at just the moment when I want to make an exposure.

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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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: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Door, Wall, and Sidewalk

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Blue Door, Wall, and Sidewalk
A quiet street scene with a blue door, Le Marais, Paris.

Blue Door, Wall, and Sidewalk. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A quiet street scene with a blue door, Le Marais, Paris.

As I worked on this photograph I had a bit of an odd experience. I rarely mention it here, but my academic training is in music and I was s a college music faculty member. But it is difficult to understand, much less explain, the relationships between my audio and visual lives. The entire subject is too big and complex to cover here. The odd experience? I was listening to music as I worked on this photograph and a few others from the same source. Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t usually do that.

Why do I mention this? I usually consider photographs almost exclusively from a visual perspective — the nature of the subject, the quality of light, the composition and relationships among elements, color, texture, and so on. But the particular music I was listening to as I worked on this photograph changed my perspective on it in a way that is difficult to describe. (The music included some work by the composer Max Richter, which often moves slowly and quietly.) The scene took on a quiet and a stillness that I had not thought about before, and I began to think about the age of this building and what might be behind that door and those windows. Music can do that to you.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais

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Woman and Doorways, Le Marais
A women walks past the weatehred front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A women walks past the weathered front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

During the past two years, as the pandemic ebbed and flowed, travel has been more difficult than it was a few years earlier. Even when it has been possible — and we travelled during this period — our activities have been affected and limited by the need to take precautions. One outlet for me has been “virtual travel” via the process of revisiting photographs from trips we made in the “before times.” This photograph comes from an archive of photographs from a visit to Europe back in 2016.

The location is in Le Marais, Paris, an older and historic area of narrow streets and interesting weathering and decay… and a wonderful place to make photographs. I made this photograph on a very productive day when we spent a few hours wandering here. The photograph employs one of my “tricks of the trade” for street, namely finding an interesting urban landscape and then waiting for someone to populate the space. I appreciated the color relationships between the woman’s attire and other elements of the scene, among other things.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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