Tag Archives: patterns

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Dunes At Dawn

Image Leave a comment
Dunes At Dawn
Dawn light and shadow patterns on sand dunes, Death Valley

Dunes At Dawn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light and shadow patterns on sand dunes, Death Valley.

Other recent photographic posts here have mentioned the astonishing transition of desert light between the pre-dawn twilight and the post-dawn light of daytime, and especially the rapid changes that occur right around sunrise itself. I made this photograph during the first moments after the direct sun had made its way onto the dunes after rising above a mountain range far to the east. At this point the light is still warm, but significantly less so that during that first instant of direct light, and the shadows still are deeply blue from the color of early morning sky.

The small stand of foreground creosote is emblematic of one of the astonishing things about sand dunes, namely that there is so much living stuff in a place that first appears to be completely inhospitable to life. It is a challenging environment, and plants are few and far between, but they do manage to survive. In the springtime the permanent plants such as the creosote bushes are briefly embellished by the appearance of seasonal flowers, at least during years with sufficient rain.

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.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Stairs, Le Centre Pompidou

Image Leave a comment

Stairs, Le Centre Pompidou
Outside stairs at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

Stairs, Le Centre Pompidou. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Outside stairs at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

We had previously walked past the Pompidou Center museum but had not stopped, instead visiting other museums on our list. The structure is famous (or infamous, depending on your aesthetics) for its unusual architecture, which exposes lots of things that would usually be hidden beneath the skin of a more traditional building — ventilation ducts, stairs, escalators, structural reinforcements, and more. While the art inside the building was fascinating, the photographer in me was attracted to the structure itself.

I made this photograph from the ground level before we went inside. The simple “x” shape is superimposed on some of those exposed structural details, in this case a bunch of outside stairways. The color scheme of the building in this area is almost purely monochromatic — at first I thought I was looking at a black and white image, until I noticed a bit of yellow color along a margin. Since it was already monochromatic I decided to eliminate even that bit of color and go with a black and white rendition.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook |
Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Morning Reflections

Image Leave a comment

Tufa, Morning Reflections
Tufa towers and morning light reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

Tufa, Morning Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tufa towers and morning light reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

The tufa towers are often the first subjects that people think of when they consider photographing at this location. I’ve photographed them many times and in may ways — up close, at a distance, in silhouette, in all kinds of conditions and at all times of day. I still find them fascinating, but I’ve come to see the lake as being more about other features now.

The greatest impression I get from the lake is immense space. This comes partly from the sheer size of this landlocked lake, but it may also come from a combination of often seeing it from elevated viewpoints and from the open and sometimes cloud-filled sky. And at early and late times of day the water takes on colors of sky and surrounding mountains, ranging from brilliantly intense to quite subtle. These colors are interrupted when the wind produces patterns on the surface of the water.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Patterns In Granite

Leave a comment

Patterns In Granite
Patterns in a section of Yosemite Valley granite

Patterns In Granite. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patterns in a section of Yosemite Valley granite

Of all the things that characterize and define Yosemite, rock may be the most important. The Valley itself is lined with huge granite* forms in the shapes of domes and cliffs and more, carved by water, glaciers, and slow erosion. Wandering about the Valley one eventually becomes aware that the granite “moves,” and that giant chunks have fallen from the surrounding heights and sometimes managed to travel a good distance into the valley — a sobering thought. This rock continues into the high country, where some of the same features are found, along with others — the glacial “erratics” left behind as ice retreated, places were rivers flow across smooth rock, meadows dotted with boulders.

The character of granite on the large scale is hard to miss, but its character close up is also fascinating. Many years ago, for a few years, I was a bit of a rock climber. As a climber one gets “up close and intimate” with rock, learning (and remembering the tactile qualities) of the rock — smooth, straight cracks, rough, covered by lichen, disintegrating, marked by water, and more. That may explain why this little spot caught my attention. Quite a few stories are in this rock. It lies at the base of some very large cliffs, suggesting its source. It is covered by lichen, part of the reason for the color variations. Stained streaks produce vertical lines, and one odd section, which must be harder than the rest, angles up from left to right.

  • A geologist friend has pointed out to me in the past that “granite” is not a technically correct blanket description for the rock of Yosemite. I’m using the term in the casual and familiar sense. And for those who get this far, did you notice a compositional link to the recent redwing blackbird photograph? :-)

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.