Tag Archives: plants

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Weathered Blue Building, Fences, and Plants

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Weathered Blue Building, Fences, and Plants - A weathered blue building with fences and plants in evening light, Mendocino, California.
A weathered blue building with fences and plants in evening light, Mendocino, California.

Weathered Blue Building, Fences, and Plants. Mendocino, California. August 28, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A weathered blue building with fences and plants in evening light, Mendocino, California.

I had been thinking that I really should photograph some of the old, weathered buildings in Mendocino while we were there, but it just seemed like I was never quite in the right spot in the right light with the right amount of time – so, for the most part, while we were there recently I mostly just talked about how “sometime I should really photograph some of these old buildings.” Sound familiar? The village is full of various kinds of interesting places: severe-looking old churches, badly weathered older buildings, neatly restored and updated homes and businesses, old shops, and vignettes of old windows, fences, gates, and more.

In the evening we decided to walk out toward the coastal bluffs southwest of the village, with the plan of photographing the bluffs, coastal rocks, surf, and ocean in golden hour light. As we walked along a boardwalk toward the water I looked to my right and saw this very weathered old building, with its surrealistic garden of very strange shaped, well, what exactly? Trees? Bushes? Whatever they are, with their conical shapes, their twisting trunks, and odd angles they seem like they could be the model for some of the plants in a Dr. Seuss book. I was a block away when I spotted the scene, and the low angle side light was about to be cut off, so I simply set up where I was and made a few photographs – using a very unusual architecture lens, a 100-400mm zoom! This actually turned out to be a good choice – and not just because I would have lost the light if I had switched to a shorter lens and run toward the building. The long focal length flattens the depth of the elements of the image and draws them together. It also eliminated the perspective convergence that often causes walls and other vertical elements to slant inward. Do I worked quickly, and managed to get this shot while the side light was still illuminating one of the odd plants and highlighting parts of the worn fences in the foreground.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Walkway, Lan Su Chinese Garden

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Walkway, Lan Su Chinese Garden - A covered walkway at the Portland Chinese Garden.
A covered walkway at the Portland Chinese Garden.

Walkway, Lan Su Chinese Garden. Portland, Oregon. July 2, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A covered walkway at the Portland Chinese Garden.

After our recent stay in Portland, Oregon, I understand that there is more to the city than beer. Though don’t overlook the beer… ;-) Portland seems to be a city of gardens, at least in the central portion where we spent most of our visit. This may be redundant, but there are beautiful gardens of all types and in a variety of places. We visited nearly a half-dozen, even though that wasn’t the primary goal of our trip. (And, no, it wasn’t the beer, either. But that did figure in our plans, too.)

On this day we were walking around portions of the downtown area, mostly south of the main downtown center. In the afternoon we decided to head north and east a bit and walk into Portland’s Chinatown area. It is a much different place than the more compressed and more touristy Chinatown of San Francisco. Our main goal was the Lan Su Chinese Garden. This garden is a beautiful little marvel, located in an area where you might not expect to find such a thing. Although it occupies a very small downtown block, there is much to see inside, especially if you walk slowly and look carefully. At one point I imagined what it might be like to be in such a place alone, so I made a point of trying to make a few photographs that didn’t include other visitors, such as this black and white photograph of a covered walkway winding along an edge of the garden.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Red Rock, Capitol Reef

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Red Rock, Capitol Reef - Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Red Rock, Capitol Reef. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. April 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

I’m afraid that our time in Capitol Reef National Park during our early April visit to Utah was extremely limited – essentially we just passed through on highway 12 on the day we travelled from Zion (where we had spent several days) to Moab. I wish I could have had some real time to explore this area, but at least I got a glimpse of it – enough that I know to put in on my list of places to revisit when I have more time on a future trip.

As we passed through Capitol Reef, aside from viewing things from the car, we made two stops. One was in the Fruita district area to see some petroglyphs and the other was this viewpoint along the highway, from which there was an impressive panorama of the beautiful red rock country. Although this was perhaps not the ideal time of day for photography, the weather gods cooperated enough to give me a bit of high, thin overcast to soften the light and to place these beautiful layered clouds above and beyond the sandstone ridge.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove

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Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove - Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.
Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.

Beach and Rocks, Whalers Cove. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. March 29, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Large rocks and a sandy beach below the bluffs at Whalers Cover, Point Lobos State Reserve.

For some reason this little vignette caught my attention when I visited Point Lobos one morning in late March. The spot is a section of the curving beach at the inside of Whalers Cove, where a bluff sits above short cliffs at the edge of the sand. This is another of those spots that I have visited for literally decades, yet never photographed. Although I have photographed nearby I don’t think I have any photographs of this little beach area at all, but I’ve been eyeing it during my last few visits.

The cove itself is an appealing spot, somewhat different from many other parts of Point Lobos. Those tend to feature quite rugged seashore, often with cliffs and rocks that run right down into the surging water of the Pacific Ocean. But this cove is doubly protected from the ocean, by being a cove and by having an entrance that does not face straight out toward the ocean. It is filled with kelp beds and is a good place to look for sea lions very close to the shore. (Several were hanging out, wrapped in kelp and lounging around, not more than a few feet from the shore.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.