Tag Archives: outdoor

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Photographers

Photographer, Death Valley

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Photographer, Death Valley
Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in Death Valley National Park

Photographer, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in Death Valley National Park

Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in the desert landscape of Death Valley National Park in morning light. Our morning here started much earlier, well before sunrise, and we walked out across the playa and around the side of dunes before sunrise. We arrived at the dunes just as the first light arrived, hitting the mountains to our west and then working its way down to the valley floor and across to us. Landscape photography might seem like a rather leisurely pursuit — after all, mountains don’t move much! — but at these times of marginal light things can happen very quickly.

We continued photographing after sunrise, enjoying the chance to explore the nearly endless subjects among the forms and colors and textures of the dunes. Eventually the sun would rise high enough to diminish the beauty of the light and it would be time to leave. It was perhaps approaching that time when I stopped atop a low dune and saw Patty photographing across the landscape, with her long shadow extending in front of her camera and the distant mountains of the Panamint Range rising in beyond.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge

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First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge
Trees along a rock strewn lake as first morning light strikes a southern Sierra Nevada backcountry ridge

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge. Sequoia National Park, California. August 8, 2008. © Copyright 2008 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees along a rock strewn lake as first morning light strikes a southern Sierra Nevada backcountry ridge

This was the scene on the morning of this fifth day or a trip of over a week across the High Sierra Trail, a trip that would eventually summit Mount Whitney before descending the east side of the Sierra. To me, this route feels like it is composed of several distinct sections. The first couple of days are the approach, reaching the first high country from a west side trailhead. The next few of days are the crossing of the Kaweahs and the descent to the ridges above Big Arroyo, a portion of the trip that has the distinct feeling of remoteness and of dropping down to much lower country. Then there is the march up the Kern and the ascent to meet the JMT, followed by the lateral over to a base camp below Whitney, with the finale being the ascent of this ridge and then the long descent to Whitney Portal.

This morning was in that post-Kaweah phase, at our second camp after crossing the Gap. This lake, a bit off the “official” route, is a quiet and forested place with a gentle feeling that contrasts the rough edges of the higher country. We awoke this morning and I was out before dawn, photographing the first light on this high ridge beyond the trees and across the lake.

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: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Black Star, Tiles and People

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Black Star, Tiles and People
People standing on tile near Frank Stella’s “Black Star” at the Whitney Museum

Black Star, Tiles and People. New York City. December 27, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People standing on tile near Frank Stella’s “Black Star” at the Whitney Museum

On our December 2015 visit to New York City we had a chance to visit the new Whitney Museum for the first time. We see the early construction phases on several earlier visits when we went to Chelsea and were pleased to find that it is now open. We went there one morning, began on the top floor, and started to work our way down. (I’m a bit notorious for being able to spend what some regard as far too many hours wandering slowly through museums. Eventually the others in my party left. I stayed and finally joined up with them again hours later.)

The museum’s collection is, of course, fascinating. But the building itself also fascinated me — as a structure it its own right, its placement in its Manhattan surroundings, how it is used to display art, its outdoor areas, and the opportunities it gave me to include people in photographs. I did virtually no photography inside the building, but on the outdoor terraces and walkways it was an entirely different situation. These areas were perhaps the most attractive parts of the architecture for me, with upper levels thrusting out over the Chelsea landscape, and lower levels spreading out horizontally. From below it created a sort of industrial landscape of metal angles, and from above the views downwards were quite something. This photograph looks over one of the upper balconies and straight down onto a tile-covered terrace where Frank Stella’s “Black Star” resides and was being photographed and contemplated by visitors.

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: Austria, Photographs: Urban/Street

Salzburg Cafe

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Salzburg Cafe
Salzburg Cafe

Salzburg Cafe. Salzburg Austria. July 17, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People sit at an outdoor cafe on a sidewalk along a narrow street in Salzburg, Austria

This is sort of a photograph of nowhere in particular in Salzburg, Austria. A ways off from the busy downtown area around the touristy shops and other old buildings, things seem to quiet down a lot. There are few or no cars on many of this very narrow streets – barely wide enough for a single car anyway, and the tightly packed multistory buildings create a sort of canyon effect. There do not appear to be any gardens here, and every plant I recall seeing on most of these streets was growing in a pot. The buildings are not all the same color, but they do all seem to be pastel shades.

As we walked in this area we came to a t-intersection, with this little cafe occupying the middle of the upper bar of the “t.” I photographed it straight on from the other street on the intersection. I was fascinated by the almost complete lack of “branding” on this business – it was only by looking very closely at the photograph that I could make out a name for the place. The most obvious sign simply says “cafe & restaurant.” I was also interested to see that the seating, of which there must not be enough inside the building, not only spilled onto and across the narrow sidewalk, but extended right into the street, where its boundaries were defined by the large potted plants! A couple sits in the green chairs on the right with a very young child. They seem to perhaps be the grandparents – and grandpa is catching a smoke while grandma tends to the child. The colors in the seating area contrast with the pale, pastel colors of the buildings (and the matching umbrellas), and include a green that is brighter than that of the plants and lemon yellow back near where two men talk on the right.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.