Tag Archives: pattern

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Pine Needles, Fletcher Lake

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Pine Needles, Fletcher Lake

Pine Needles, Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

During the first weekend of September 2008 I made my first late-season visit to the Sierra, heading to Fletcher Lake in the Yosemite backcountry, a place I often try to visit each year at about this time. I like to get up there as the fall season approaches, and an added bonus this time was the possibility of meeting some fellow photographers who were in the area. (More about that later.)

In the morning of my last day at Fletcher I was up early to photograph the morning light on the rocks and trees around the lake, especially those reflected in the still water at that hour. I was just about finished with that project when I spotted these needles on the shady side of a shoreline grove of trees.

keywords: pine, branch, needle, tree, fletcher, vogelsang, lake, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, nature, green, fall, autumn, pattern, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Ocean, Sunset

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Pacific Ocean, Sunset

Pacific Ocean Waves, Sunset. Pacific Ocean Coastline, Northern California. September 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of wave patterns and reflections as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco, California.

I drove over to the coast on an early September evening with my son to photograph pelicans and other shore birds along coastal bluffs between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. I know of a few spots on high bluffs where you can simply pull to the side of the road, take 10 steps to the west to the edge of the bluff, and then wait for birds gliding along the cliffs and taking advantage of the updrafts to stay aloft. Sometimes the birds will come past within a few feet of your position. I had been concentrating of photographing the birds, but during the breaks between flocks and individuals it was impossible to ignore the increasingly beautiful light as the sun dropped toward the horizon, casting nearly horizontal shadows of fog-diffused light. Essentially on a whim, I pointed my 100-400mm zoom (not exactly a typical landscape/seascape lens) down at the small waves at the base of the cliff and made a few exposures just as the sun began to drop below the horizon.

keywords: color, wave, swell, reflections, pacific, ocean, coast, highway, 1, one, california, usa, pattern, sun, set, sunset, evening, san francisco, coastline, shore, sea, seashore, seascape, landscape, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape

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Precipice Lake - Imaginary Landscape
Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very subjective view of Precipice Lake, Sequoia National Park, California.

Another take on Precipice Lake, this one is not intended to be a literal depiction of the scene. The image has been manipulated in several ways such that it perhaps belongs in the same category with some of my other photos that I describe as “imaginary landscapes.” Part of the “game” with this one was to reduce saturation to the point where it may seem almost but not quite like a black and white image. I like to think of it as being “subjectively true” without being objectively accurate. (Though, frankly, you can say that about essentially any photograph – I suppose this one may just be a bit further from the objective reality that some others I’ve done.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: predicipice, lake, cliff, water, snow, rock, pattern, reflection, kaweah, gap, high, sierra, trail, nevada, california, usa, imaginary, landscape, altered, processed, subjective, ansel adams, sequoia, national park, mountain, alpine, talus, pattern

Photographs: Unclassified

Stairs, UCLA

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Stairs, UCLA
Stairs After Rain. University of California, Los Angeles. January 29, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of receding stairways after rain. University of California, Los Angeles.

keywords: stairs, steps, building, structure, fence, railing, handrail, brown, tan, repeating, pattern, ucla, university of, california, los angeles, usa, stairway, stock