Tag Archives: oregon

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Garden Gate

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Garden Gate
An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Garden Gate. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An entry gate to the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Some years back our youngest son and our daughter-in-law lived in the lovely and quirky city of Portland, Oregon. Since it is (just barely, if you have a lot of endurance!) a one-day drive from the San Francisco Bay Area we managed to get up there somewhat regularly, and we came to like the place a lot. Among other things, it is a city of gardens, including several that we visited more than once. This photograph of a stone walkway passing through a gate comes from the lovely Japanese Garden.

Having roots in a non-west-coast part of America (long ago, but they stick with you), I can understand how the character of towns along the Pacific coast is difficult for some to understand in other parts of the country. But Oregon is a wonderful place that is hard to characterize in any single way. There is a long tradition of a kind of counter-culture there, but there is also a large suburban population. Don’t believe the simplistic, politicized claims that the city is “under siege” or a hotbed of some kind of awfulness that requires federal intervention.

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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Wall and Benches

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Wall and Benches
A wall and two benches in a Japanese garden.

Wall and Benches. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall and two benches in a Japanese garden.

This is a “quiet photograph” made at the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon a few years ago when we were there for a family visit. It was not a photography trip, and I had intentionally travelled light, carrying only a camera and one lens. But we ended up visiting several of the cities beautiful gardens, and I was glad that I had that equipment with me!

The Japanese Garden is a beautiful and quiet place, and there was a lot to see and photograph there. At the time I made this photograph something about the scene caught my eye, but aside from a bit of quick work a few days later the file sat quietly in my archives for eight years. It was only this past week, as I continued my pandemic exploration of old files, that I came across this subject. After some consideration it seemed to me that this photograph was a candidate for a monochromatic treatment.

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: Pacific Northwest

Waterfall and Pond

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Waterfall and Pond
A waterfall empties into a small pool, Portland Japanese Garden.

Waterfall and Pond. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A waterfall empties into a small pool, Portland Japanese Garden.

This is a portrait-orientation photograph of the same subject I recently posted in landscape orientation — a beautiful and quite peaceful scene from the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

With some subjects I go ahead and photograph both waits — vertical and horizontal — for several reasons. My first impressions of a subject while I’m on the scene don’t always turn out to be the rest ones, and sometimes I discover later on that a compositional option I had dismissed actually works well. So I recognize that it is possible that a scene that seems to work in landscape mode may turn out to work in portrait mode. On top of that, and thinking in practical terms, sometimes a particular usage of a photograph demands one or the other orientation, and I’d like to be able to offer both options. In this case, the vertical orientation may emphasize the verticality of the waterfall a bit more than the alternative view.

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: Pacific Northwest

Leaves in Shade

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Leaves in Shade
Large leaves photographed in shade, Portland, Oregon.

Leaves in Shade. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Large leaves photographed in shade, Portland, Oregon.

This is an update and a little bit of a reinterpretation of a photograph from 2012 and rediscovered during my pandemic review of old image files. I made the photograph back in 2012 on a vacation visit to Portland, Oregon. Photographically speaking, I travelled light on the trip, carrying only a single lens and no tripod. I made this photograph on a visit one of the many Portland-area public gardens.

Photographs of foliage like this both attract and challenge me. I’m immediately attracted to the overlapping forms, the textures, and the colors. But often as I look at the subject more closely I find “issues” that turn what had seemed like easy, obvious photographs into something more challenging — a flaw in the leaves, a gap opening to detail-free shadows, issues with light, and so forth. But this little scene — with a bit of post-processing assistance — seemed to work.

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.