Tag Archives: orange

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Burned Forest

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Burned Forest
A Yosemite National Park forest beginning its post-wildfire recovery..

Burned Forest. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A Yosemite National Park forest beginning its post-wildfire recovery..

This photograph comes from Yosemite National Park, and not far from the current wildfire in the Mariposa Grove area. There are “good fires” and “bad fires” — the former tend to burn loose stuff on the forest floor along with some small trees and other plants, while the later burn hot and climb into the crowns of the trees and often killing them. Most of the trees in a healthy forest will survive the good fires, but increasingly the forests are now faced with bad fires that cause tremendous destruction. A quick scan around this photograph reveals some dead young trees but also some remaining green branches that likely mark a tree that is going to survive.

Photographing wildfire sites has long been a challenge for me. Many years ago I simply regarded wildfires as evil, but today my view is more nuanced, and I accept that some fire occurs in healthy forests and, in fact, is necessary and good. The challenge photographically has been to see these scenes as being subjects for beautiful photography rather than just as destruction.

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: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Succulent

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Succulent
Detail of a succulent plant.

Succulent. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Detail of a succulent plant.

Recently I shared a group of tulip photographs and mentioned that we saw them during April visits to a Bay Area garden. But the tulips were not the only attraction. For example, I posted a photograph of dogwood blossoms a few days ago. Although they comprised a very small part of the overall displays, I also saw some very interesting succulent plants here and there.

At this garden, many of these plants are found in small pots in various locations — on a table, on top of a low wall, tucked into a spot beneath trees. In my view, some are not the most visually exciting plants, and those that present interesting patterns are difficult to photograph, often because it is hard to get an uninterrupted framing of the plant. I liked this plant, however, both for the remarkable patterns of the leaves and for the striking coloration.

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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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Creosote, Sunset Shadows

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Creosote, Sunset Shadows
A clump of creosote among curving sand dunes as sunset shadows arrive.

Creosote, Sunset Shadows. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A clump of creosote among curving sand dunes as sunset shadows arrive.

This comes from a short but very intense burst of photography on a late- January evening in Death Valley National Park. A suitable interval before sunset I had headed out on a hike of a bit more than a mile to a line of sand dunes, where I expected that the final direct sun o the day would arrive over the top of a low ridge to my west, and that it would have the potential to bring some lovely, wam light to the dunes. I arrived at the dunes well before sunset and set to work looking for subjects in this somewhat unfamiliar place.

The light was already transitioning toward evening, and as I worked the transition accelerated. I put a long lens on the camera, partly because it would allow me to pick our small compositions in the larger landscape and partly because it would let me quickly respond to short-term bits of beautiful light that were too transitory for me to pick up and move to their location. Moments before the sun dropped beyond that ridge, the color of the light intensified and the shadows lengthened.

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 | 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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Last Light, Sand Dunes

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Last Light, Sand Dunes
Desert winds blow sand across the lip of sand dunes in sunset light.

Last Light, Sand Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert winds blow sand across the lip of sand dunes in sunset light.

Some things are only at their best for a brief moment. Think of a fresh espresso, a soufflé, or perhaps the half hour of beautiful spring snow between ice and slush. The light in the moment when shadows from distant hills arrive at the edge of sunset light (or its inversion at sunrise) is another such thing. This light does things to the landscape that aren’t seen at any other time of day, but the event may last barely a few minutes.

Near the end of my shoot at this location I turned and saw the colorful, low-angle light coloring the sand and bringing relief to its features. I quickly went to work photographing it, working quickly and instinctively, as I knew that the moment would be brief. In fact, along the left side of this photograph is the the shadow marking the edge of light. A moment after I made this photograph, the light was gone.

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 | 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.