Tag Archives: picture

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pausing At The Foto Automatica

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Pausing At The Foto Automatica
“Pausing At The Foto Automatica” — A group of people pause at the Foto Automatic, Florence, Italy.

This photograph of people pausing at the Foto Automatica in Florence took me back to a previous visit to this city. On that earlier trip we were barely there, stopping only briefly between time in Chianti and our flight home. We stayed in a hotel a few steps from this old-school photo booth, and I was surprised at its popularity. Even in an age of hand-held selfie cameras there seems to be something special about crowding into this little old-school booth.

I photographed it on that first visit, and I photographed it again when we spent a longer time in Florence, this time long enough to explore the place more extensively. We did not stay in the same hotel, but we walked past one day — and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Foto Automatica was still there, in its odd little corner along the narrow street. As I watched a (family?) group paused to make pictures.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Stream and Peak

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Stream and Peak
A small subalpine stream descends from higher terrain among the peaks of hte Sierra crest.

Stream and Peak. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small subalpine stream descends from higher terrain among the peaks of hte Sierra crest.

Sometimes I manage to tweak some people a bit by saying, “All photographs lie.” I probably should explain. Too often there is an assumption that photographs are about showing the objective qualities of subjects, and that the best photographs simply convey the reality of these things. I think that is mistaken, and that photographs are literally incapable of being objective analogs of their subjects. Almost everything about a photograph is subjective. How did we choose to frame it? What did we choose to leave out? What time of day did we make it? What lens did we choose? Did we choose color or black and white? If there is a “truth” in a photograph it is the truth about the photographer’s subjective response to the subject. (This is a partial explanation of why two photographers who photograph the same subject usually end up with quite different photographs.)

Beyond that, there are many aspects of a subject that a photograph simply cannot contain. The sound of little mountain streams is central to my experience of places like this, but it is not found in a photograph. A photograph cannot capture the breeze or the slight chill of the shade in high mountains. The knowledge of what lies between this small stream and the lake at the base of those peaks isn’t found here. How I came to find myself at this place is not known to the viewer. Where is this place, and does that even matter?

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

From Lake to Peaks

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From Lake to Peaks
Light on a rocky saddle at the upper end of a subalpine lake beneath rugged peaks, John Muir Wilderness.

From Lake to Peaks. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light on a rocky saddle at the upper end of a subalpine lake beneath rugged peaks, John Muir Wilderness.

This was the view from my “front porch” during a week of backcountry photography in the Eastern Sierra during the summer of 2019, the last backcountry trip I managed before the shutdown cancelled most plans for 2020. Our group of (mostly) photographers camped near timberline in the John Muir Wilderness, photographing the surrounding landscape daily in a wide range of conditions.

Eastside Sierra locations create different photographic conditions than those to the west of the crest. The sharper profile here, as the range rises abruptly for high desert to ridges that can top 14, 000′, is wild and spectacular, and the east-facing escarpment is in the first morning light. But there are challenges, too. For example, scenes often fall into shadow well before sunset. In this location the ridge angles enough to the west and northwest that some sunlight sweeps across the face of the peaks late in the day, and a gap to the west allowed some of that light to fall on the rocky saddle beyond the water at the bottom of the frame.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Sierra High Country

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First Light, Sierra High Country
First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

First Light, Sierra High Country. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

The photography, of course, is the main excuse for our trips to places like these. We go to some lengths to put ourselves in locations like this for days or longer — lots of advanced planning, solid backcountry travel to get there, and then a week or more of living in tents. But the advantages are many. Obviously the “scenery” is often right outside our tent doors, and when great light happens we are essentially right there. Because we are there for a significant period for time we can more carefully and completely explore our surroundings, finding hidden gems, figuring out best times for various subjects, and returning to them as necessary. We also have the time to slow into the natural backcountry rhythms, where it seems that we have much more time to do all of the important things — photography, of course, but also sitting a looking or having a look discussion with colleagues/friends.

This view was literally steps from my tend, set on what seemed almost like a large peninsula nestled within the curve of the lake. After our first sunrise here it became apparent that the intensely colorful first light would be a fleeting subject. Due to the surrounding geography, this first color would initially spread across the summit of this ridge… but then quickly lose its color. This was a quiet morning, with little wind, so I decided it was time to stake out a camera location and photograph the first light reflected in 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.

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.