Tag Archives: park

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall

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Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall
Three white-trunk autumn trees in front of a brick wall at High Line Park, Manhattan.

Three Autumn Trees, Brick Wall. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Three white-trunk autumn trees in front of a brick wall at High Line Park, Manhattan.

On one of the days of our recent New York City trip we took a very long walk. We started at our hotel west of Central Park, roughly around the Natural History Museum, and headed south. Our first goal was the Hudson Yards complex, which we had not visited since it was under construction. Full of energy after a lunch stop there, we decided to keep going. We picked up the High Line Park walkway here and eventually ended up all the way down at the Whitney Museum.

The High Line Park is always fascinating. It is built on the right-of-way of the elevated railway that once ran along this side of Manhattan. I’m not aware of any park quite like it. In places it might be as narrow as a dozen feet wide, but its length makes up for what it lacks in width. Its elevated path takes you between buildings, across busy streets, underneath one hotel, and more. Along the walk there is plentiful vegetation – grasses, flowers, trees. The contrast between the regular form of the dark brick wall and the bright, fluid forms of these autumn tree trunks caught my eye.

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

Ladies Pavilion, Central Park

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Ladies Pavilion, Central Park
The historic Ladies Pavilion at the Lake on an autumn day in Central Park, Manhattan.

Ladies Pavilion, Central Park. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The historic Ladies Pavilion at the Lake on an autumn day in Central Park, Manhattan.

Discovering that this place is called the “Ladies Pavilion” was a bit of a surprise. I have been to this spot quite a few times, and I had seen the small building. But as I worked on the photograph I decided to find out more. It was originally constructed over 150 years ago as a shelter for carriage riders in a different location, then moved here in the early 1900s. Over the decades it languished and was in ruins before it was restored in the 1970s. It is has a beautiful view of The Lake and the Manhattan skyline.

The photograph was almost an afterthought. When we arrived here I went around to the other side of Hernshead, the rocky feature on the left side of the frame, where I photographed the lake. Then I came back this direction and walked past the pavilion to photograph some nearby foliage. But this little structure kept calling to me, and I finally stopped to photograph it with The Lake and the urban skyline 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, 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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Oaks, Morning

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Autumn Oaks, Morning
Autumn oak trees silhouetted in morning light, against the backdrop of smoke from a managed fire, Yosemite Valley.

Autumn Oaks, Morning. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn oak trees silhouetted in morning light, against the backdrop of smoke from a managed fire, Yosemite Valley.

This photograph comes from the my November 1 visit to Yosemite Valley on a day when a managed fire filled the air with smoke. It was especially thick here, as the fire was burning more or less around the meadow containing these trees. In the photograph you can probably see the thicker smoke in the shaded distance, though where I was standing it was not quite as bad.

There were several key features making this photograph work. The slender trunks of these trees are always interesting, but here they were backlight by intense sunlight coming over the top of the Valley walls, increasing the saturation of the fall leaf color. This light also left the trunks in silhouette while lighting up some of the dry autumn grasses, and the smoke muted background distractions.

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: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke

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Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke
Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

Autumn Meadow, Drifting Smoke. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Light beams pass through drifting smoke to illuminate autumn trees, Yosemite Valley.

This was just about my first photograph on a November 1 fall color visit to Yosemite Valley. I drove up very early in the morning, departing hours before sunrise so I could be there for early light. At first I was disappointed to find a managed fire in the valley — it filled the west end with thick smoke and produced some haze almost everywhere. For a moment I contemplated driving back out of the Valley and photographing in lower, clearer country. But as I drove a short Valley loop I found that the smoke was producing dramatic effects in some places.

In the end, most photographs I made on this visit involved that haze, which varied from barely visible up to smoke that choked the lungs and burned the eyes. Here the smoke was fairly thick, though it did not spread too far, and even thought there was a lot of smoke among the trees the air was relatively clear where I set up. As I made this photograph the rising sun was still low in the sky, and the interplay of light and shadow formed angled light beams.

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.