Tag Archives: plant

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Urban/Street

Signore Verdi Sings the Blues

December 22, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Street art, modeled after a painting of Giuseppe Verdi

There was street art everywhere we went in Europe and the UK this past summer. In some places, such as Heidelberg, a lot of it was overtly political and it relied a lot on text. In other places there was more that was purely visual or almost so, like this example and some that we saw in Paris. In other places, such as some parts of Bologna, much of it reminded me of simple tagging, similar to what we see in the US.

This example caught my attention for several reasons. Because of my musical background I recognized it as a riff on a famous picture of Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. (At the time of this posting you can see it at the Wikipedia entry on the composer.) The intense blue color and its juxtaposition with the green (think “Verdi”) plants also seemed interesting. I don’t know what it “means” or why it was here, but I couldn’t help photographing it!

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Creosote Bush, Dunes, Morning

April 18, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

When I go to Death Valley I usually have a long list of places I want visit — ridges, canyons, playas, trails, and more. Even when I am there for a week, I usually run out of time before I run out of places. Perhaps for this reason I have sometimes not given enough of my time to the dunes. I have photographed them quite a few times, but they often end up being one thing on the agenda that is full of other subjects. However, on this recent trip I visited the dunes much more, walking out into them on three occasions and photographing them from greater distances, too. I photographed them at more or less all times of the day, and in conditions ranging from clear sky to clearing storms and even blowing dust.

I made this photograph on a morning when a weather front was moving past, leaving some clouds in its wake above the Amargosa range along the east side of the valley. We began photographing before dawn, and worked through the rapidly changing light as the sun rose above the mountains. Clouds periodically interrupted the light, but this meant that from moment to moment almost any kind of light was possible — full direct sun, light muted by thin clouds, the soft light from overcast — and that different light often appeared at different locations in the scene. When I saw and composed this photograph the light was initially very soft, but by the time I made this last exposure the sun was beginning to come out from behind clouds and highlight the textures, curves, and lines of the sand, and the play of light and shadow.

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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: Nature

Aloe Flowers

July 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Yellow aloe blossom

I’m not the primary flower photographer around here — that would be Patty Emerson Mitchell, with whom I visited the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens earlier this month. For me the flower photography is often a sort of experimental process and a chance to “play” at a sort of photography that I don’t do all that much. It was a sunny day (tough for flower photography!) but there was plenty of shade (good for flower photograph!) though there was a bit of wind (not so good!), which made me look for protected spots (good!) like this one, where I found these spectacular aloe blooms.

(I’m taking a brief break this weekend from posting my recent Sierra Nevada photographs — those will resume on Monday.)

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

Sculpted Canyon Rock, Plant

June 18, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lone plant grows in a crack in sculpted Utah canyon sandstone

These canyons feel isolated from the rest of the outside world. In the narrow sections, the only view of the familiar world may be a small strip of sky directly overhead. The tall canyon walls, which may be only feet apart, block any view of the surrounding terrain, and the focus of my attention narrows down to the section of the canyon where I find myself, the walls where I stand a some short distance ahead before the canyon twists out of sight.

Not only are we visually cut off from the outside, but we are also isolated acoustically. No sound makes it down into the bottoms of the canyons from the above. In the canyon there may be the sounds of quietly flowing water, and perhaps the tinkling sound of water dropping over rocks. A bird may sing. The sound of my footsteps echoes between the walls. In this spot, daytime sunlight high above bounced between the canyon walls, diffusing until a wash of soft red-tinted light reached the canyon bottom. Horizontal layers had eroded at varying rates, a jagged crack cut the canyon wall vertically, and one plant grew in the crack.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: plant

Signore Verdi Sings the Blues

Creosote Bush, Dunes, Morning

Aloe Flowers

Sculpted Canyon Rock, Plant

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.