Tag Archives: red

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais

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Woman and Doorways, Le Marais
A women walks past the weatehred front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

Woman and Doorways, Le Marais. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A women walks past the weathered front of an old building with two doors, Le Marais.

During the past two years, as the pandemic ebbed and flowed, travel has been more difficult than it was a few years earlier. Even when it has been possible — and we travelled during this period — our activities have been affected and limited by the need to take precautions. One outlet for me has been “virtual travel” via the process of revisiting photographs from trips we made in the “before times.” This photograph comes from an archive of photographs from a visit to Europe back in 2016.

The location is in Le Marais, Paris, an older and historic area of narrow streets and interesting weathering and decay… and a wonderful place to make photographs. I made this photograph on a very productive day when we spent a few hours wandering here. The photograph employs one of my “tricks of the trade” for street, namely finding an interesting urban landscape and then waiting for someone to populate the space. I appreciated the color relationships between the woman’s attire and other elements of the scene, among other things.

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: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Succulent

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Succulent
Detail of a succulent plant.

Succulent. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Detail of a succulent plant.

Recently I shared a group of tulip photographs and mentioned that we saw them during April visits to a Bay Area garden. But the tulips were not the only attraction. For example, I posted a photograph of dogwood blossoms a few days ago. Although they comprised a very small part of the overall displays, I also saw some very interesting succulent plants here and there.

At this garden, many of these plants are found in small pots in various locations — on a table, on top of a low wall, tucked into a spot beneath trees. In my view, some are not the most visually exciting plants, and those that present interesting patterns are difficult to photograph, often because it is hard to get an uninterrupted framing of the plant. I liked this plant, however, both for the remarkable patterns of the leaves and for the striking coloration.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display

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Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display
Red-Winged blackbird on its perch, late-winter territorial display.

Red-Winged Blackbird Territorial Display. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Red-Winged blackbird on its perch, late-winter territorial display.

One beneficial personal effect of my bird photography has been greater awareness of parts of the local natural world that I had not paid a lot of attention to. As I have mentioned previously, I not really a “birder” in the usual sense of the word, and while I’ve enjoyed observing birds in the wild I can’t claim to be an expert on them. But photographing them has encouraged me to ask questions about what I’m seeing and to learn more.

There are two similar types of small blackbirds where I photograph, the tricolored blackbird and the red-winged blackbird. Both seem to my untrained bird-watching eyes to be pretty darned similar, apart from the extra bands of color on the shoulders of the former. Both are common in grasslands and related agricultural areas. Some sources suggest that populations have declined due to climate change and the loss of habitat, and that their range has shrunk. Apparently the eye-catching display — puffed out feathers and “exhibit of the colorful shoulder patches — is, at least during the late-winter period when I made the photograph, used to mark territory prior to the breeding season.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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, Photographs: Southern California

Last Light, Sand Dunes

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Last Light, Sand Dunes
Desert winds blow sand across the lip of sand dunes in sunset light.

Last Light, Sand Dunes. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert winds blow sand across the lip of sand dunes in sunset light.

Some things are only at their best for a brief moment. Think of a fresh espresso, a soufflé, or perhaps the half hour of beautiful spring snow between ice and slush. The light in the moment when shadows from distant hills arrive at the edge of sunset light (or its inversion at sunrise) is another such thing. This light does things to the landscape that aren’t seen at any other time of day, but the event may last barely a few minutes.

Near the end of my shoot at this location I turned and saw the colorful, low-angle light coloring the sand and bringing relief to its features. I quickly went to work photographing it, working quickly and instinctively, as I knew that the moment would be brief. In fact, along the left side of this photograph is the the shadow marking the edge of light. A moment after I made this photograph, the light was gone.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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