Tag Archives: reflect

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

La Maison Des Chats

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La Maison Des Chats
A woman walks through reflected light and past shops on a Paris street

La Maison Des Chats. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman walks through reflected light and past shops on a Paris street

Out for a morning walk, I made this photograph in a place that was hugely busy later in the day and in the evening… but which was almost deserted so early. I suppose it is a street scene that could occur in almost any big city with old buildings, but this one happens to be in Paris.

It is a bit hard to explain why I like photographs like this one, but I’ll try. Part of it is the complex and almost accidental structure of the scene with its complex combination of storefronts, windows, doors, angled shadows, and text ranging from store signage to street art and graffiti. (You’ll have to look closely to notice some of it.) This “landscape” is what first got me to look in this direction, but I felt that it would be more interesting if someone populated it, so I waited long enough for a few people to walk by. The woman in this version of the scene not only provided that all-important human figure, but she also walked some colors into the scene that tie in with the general color scheme created by the buildings and signage. (And the text found there also might be worth some consideration.)

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Morning Reflections

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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.
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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

Mountains And Salt Flats, Morning

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Death Valley, Mountains, Morning
Water seeping onto salt flats reflects morning light on Panamint Mountains

Death Valley, Mountains, Morning. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mountains And Salt Flats, Morning

On your first visit to Death Valley and to this particular spot in the park, you might be surprised to find water here. I know I was the first time I saw the spot so many years ago. As I drove past on a road through the valley I thought I saw water on the salt flats, but I suspected that it was just a mirage. But I kept seeing it on subsequent visits and before long I stopped, got out, and walked out there to see what was going on. From the roadway one walks across a low-angle gravel fan that is one of the more desolate spots in Death Valley. At the right time during the right years, there actually can be flowers growing here for a short time, but it small numbers and widely scattered. On this recent visit, even though there were flowers around, I found spots out here where I would see literally nothing growing at all.

At the bottom of the gravel fan one enters salt weed or salt grass, an extremely hardy plant that grows in some of the most hostile locations imaginable — as long as there is some water, even if it is full of salt and chemicals. Passing through this area makes for difficult walking, between the rough but sometimes muddy ground and the sharp branches of the plant. Beyond the plants water seeps onto the salt flat, barely moving at all, then slowly travels in narrow and very shallow sheets down toward even lower portions of the valley. Surprisingly, things do live here, including insects and, on occasion, some rather exuberant birds. If you stand in just the right place, at sunrise the early morning light on the Panamint Mountain Range is reflected in these ponds.

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.
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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

From Tufa To Mountains, Dawn

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From Tufa To Mountains, Dawn
Predawn light above high desert mountains, reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

From Tufa To Mountains, Dawn. Mono Lake, California. July 26, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Predawn light above high desert mountains, reflecting on the surface of Mono Lake

Mono Lake is famed for several things, among them the remarkable tufa towers found in several locations along the shoreline of this great land-locked lake east of the Sierra Nevada. And, yes, this photograph includes a few of those towers — a small group that lies far enough from the shoreline to make them less accessible and interesting to most photographers. (No, that isn’t Nessie — or a band of Nessie lookalikes — at the lower left corner.)

But tufa towers are not my primary or strongest association with this place. Mine include more ephemeral things — the sense of huge space, the expanse of the sky (accentuated by the distance and smallness of surrounding mountains), the deep quiet that is broken only by the sounds of birds and wind. In my experience, to understand those things about this place you must find a quiet place away from other people and perhaps just “be” there quietly, long enough to let its stillness begin to affect you, too. On this morning I arrived in Mono Basin before dawn, ending up at a spot that is not typically regarded as being iconic. Being early, I was in no hurry, so I set up my camera and tripod and just looked for a while before beginning to make photographs of the predawn light from beyond the eastern mountains as it reflected on the breeze-ruffled surface of 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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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