Tag Archives: park

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Gambel Oak Leaves, Autumn

2 Comments
Gambel Oak Leaves, Autumn - Brilliantly colored autumn colors of Gambel Oak leaves, Capitol Reef National Park
Brilliantly colored autumn colors of Gambel Oak leaves, Capitol Reef National Park

Gambel Oak Leaves, Autumn. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. October 26, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brilliantly colored autumn colors of Gambel Oak leaves, Capitol Reef National Park

This is a very different view of the autumn gambel oak leaves than another that I recently posted. That other photograph showed the perhaps more typical brown or tan phase of fall oak leaf color. This one, on the other hand, shows a particularly colorful specimen of these leaves, caught at perhaps just the right moment and in the right light in a canyon of Capitol Reef National Park early one late-October morning.

The angle from which you view these leaves matters a lot, as it often does with autumn leaves in general. The nature of the ambient light also makes a big difference. And did I mention the timing!? If you can get a bit of back-light behind the oak leaves, what might otherwise be a bit dull can begin to glow. And the soft, diffused lighting in this deep canyon setting allowed the light to fill in the shadows. These particular specimens possess very interesting color and shape patterns: there is an interior still-green section on many of the leaves that is just beginning to edge towards yellow-gold, and it is surrounded by brilliantly red and orange leaf edges. When I shoot in deep shade – and these plants were deep in the shade of this small canyon – I often find that the photograph seems unnaturally blue, given that most of the light is either direct or reflected blue sky. In most cases, in order to get a color balance that reflects what the eye saw – and our visual system compensates for the blue saturation – I have to alter the color balance a bit and move it away from this artificial-seeming blueness. However, in this case, if I adjusted far enough to neutralize the blue that you can still see on the more-or-less gray branches and twigs, the color of the leaves would probably defy belief!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Juniper Tree, Towers at Base of Sandstone Cliff, Evening

2 Comments
Juniper Tree, Towers at Base of Sandstone Cliff, Evening
“Juniper Tree, Towers at Base of Sandstone Cliff, Evening” —A lone juniper tree grows among boulders at below sandstone towers at the base of cliffs, Capitol Reef National Park

I made this photograph midway through a trip of about 11 days that took us to a number of locations in Utah. Every such trip seems to have a sort of arc that includes the initial excitement and expectation of heading out into the world to photograph, a settling in period, perhaps a lull in the middle followed by a reconnection to the work, a sense that the trip is ending and there is too much left to do, and the final trip back to the “real world.” This photograph was made near the end of the “lull,” and might have marked the transition back to rededication to the work. On this mid-trip day, we had found ourselves perhaps a bit without direction and one of the members of the group had not been feeling well. At a low point in our energy but perhaps feeling that we should at least carry on and act like we were working, we went to a nearby area of the park in the evening.

At first we had no clear goal in mind, though we sort of stopped and looked around at a few spots, but without really making any serious photographs. Eventually we headed up into a large canyon, first photographing the walls near the start of the canyon and then photographing the canyon itself a bit as the light began to fade. This work went OK, but it didn’t seem to be quite “clicking.” But eventually, in my experience, you get to the point where you sometimes simply accept this as part of the work, trusting that if you keep looking and keep seeing you will eventually find what you are looking for – and that this is far more productive and useful than packing it up when it isn’t working. (Though, to be fair, there are a few times when packing it up and going and having a nice dinner can be a reasonable option!) In any case, we loaded up the vehicle and began to drive back out of the canyon. Looking up at the surrounding canyon walls, we were surprised to find some very unusual post-sunset light. During normal light these canyon walls look very dark and have the intensely “red” quality of the iconic Utah sandstone. But somehow this light seemed to have drained the color from the rocks, creating a de-saturated and almost slightly metallic effect. We quickly stopped an piled out with cameras and tripods and began shooting, and it seemed to me that the connection had been made once again.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Surf, Weston Beach

Leave a comment

Surf, Weston Beach
Surf, Weston Beach

Surf, Weston Beach. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 13, 2012. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Long exposure photograph of surf and boulders, Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Reserve

This part of a small series of photographs I made at Weston Beach, Point Lobos on a mid-January day. The location is very familiar to me, to the point that I recognize many specific rocks and formations here. I have photographed quite a few times, but I continue to find new things to see here. Part of that is from visiting in different seasons and conditions of weather and light, part from looking more closely, and part from thinking of different ways to photograph the familiar subject. More than once I’ve had a feeling that I was “done” with the location, only to go back and find a new way of seeing it to investigate.

I was playing with several ideas when I made this series of photographs. Obviously, I was working with long exposures that allowed the motion of the waves to blur in various ways, smoothing out the surface of the otherwise-rough water and turning shoreline waves into transparent mist. I was also working with a different sort of light than that which I would usually seek out here. More often I look for soft light, produced by some overcast, an early/late hour, or even fog. But it was very clear on this mid-morning visit and the light falling on the rocks was somewhat stark and harsh, especially when I shot almost into the sunlight. It seemed to me that the edginess of the brightly lit rock might be a counterpoint to the softness of the long-exposure blurring of the water. Obviously, I also went with black and white here. Also, a bit unusual for me, I worked with an ultra-wide angle focal length, getting quite close to the foreground but letting the distant subjects be small and accentuating that by placing the horizon very close to the top of the frame.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.

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

Monterey Cypress Trunks

Leave a comment

Monterey Cypress Trunks
Monterey Cypress Trunks

Monterey Cypress Trunks. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 13, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The trunks of Monterey Cypress trees along the north shore of Point Lobos State Reserve, California

In mid-January I made my first trip back to Point Lobos in quite a few months. This is a place that I know well, having visited since my parents took me when I was a child. I’ve photographed all over the park – though I certainly have not done everything there that can be done, and I’ll continue to photograph the place. On this visit I went without any real preconceived ideas about what I wanted to shoot. Often when I go to such a place I have at least some such ideas – perhaps I’m thinking about wildlife, or maybe I want to photograph in fog, or there might be a forecast of high surf. But this time? I think I just wanted to go there and be in the old familiar landscape of sun and waves and birds and all the rest.

I arrived early, just after the park opened, and when I drove it there were few others there yet. (Point Lobos can become very busy later in the day as tourists from the popular Monterey and Carmel areas show up.) More or less by chance I ended up down at iconic Weston Beach, where I stopped when I saw some arrangements of shoreline boulders that seemed to present some possibilities and because the early morning light was glancing off of sea stacks and islands to the south. I shot here for perhaps a couple of hours and then decided to head back over the Whalers Cove, where I can sometimes photograph interesting birds. When I didn’t see the birds there that I hoped for, I decided to shoulder my gear and take the trail along the dramatic north shore, hoping for some soft light. This little scene caught my attention along the trail, at first because of the interesting back-light, but I soon saw a lot more potential here, especially with the trees tilting at wild angles.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.