Tag Archives: reflection

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Horsetail Fall, Early Evening

March 5, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The silver strand of Horsetail Fall and water reflecting on surrounding cliffs in late afternoon light, Yosemite Valley, California.

I’m thinking it is pretty nearly impossible to make a truly original photograph of Horsetail Fall – though I won’t completely rule out the possibility.

In any case, here I decided to start photographing the February spectacle a bit before the colorful sunset light showed up. At this point the beam of light on the cliff face around the fall is a bit larger, lighting the rocks to the right of the fall as well as the fall itself. During this season there has been enough precipitation and the weather had warmed enough to not only get Horsetail flowing but to also create some seepage down the face of the cliff next to the fall. As a matter of fact, the reflections from this wet rock caught my attention more strongly at first than did the fall itself. A second process was at work here as well: a stiff breeze from the west was blowing across the path of the falling water, catching it, and blowing thin clouds of spray across the buttress to the left of the fall itself.

I have posted several short articles on photographing this seasonal Yosemite Valley icon:

“Thinking About Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall” (2012)
“Photographing Horsetail Fall – Random Thoughts About Photographing an Icon” (2011)
“Horsetail Fall – It’s That Time Again” (2011)
“Thinking of Photographing Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall?” (2009)
Search results for Horsetail Fall at my blog (results will include the above-listed articles and more)

One of the best sources of current season information about the Horsetail Fall photography potential is photographer Michael Frye, who frequently posts general information and updates each winter.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brightly Painted Wall, Mission District

March 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Detail of a brightly painted red, yellow, blue, and white wall in San Francisco’s Mission District.

One sub-category of my photography focuses on businesses and shops and so forth that are not cookie-cutter chains. I love the way that these businesses seem to collect their own character over time, and I also like the wild and diverse ways that small business owners present themselves. I spotted this wild conjunction of brightly painted colors as I walked along 24th street in the Mission District of San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon. In this version of the photograph (yes, there is another) I framed a small section of the building wall closely to try to fill the frame with these colors.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
ISO 200, f/8, 1/25 second

keywords: the, mission, san francisco, california, usa, north america, street, urban, city, texture, pattern, stripe, line, red, yellow, white, red, vertical, bright, painted, paint, district, 24th, wall, wood, city, stock, color, primary, reflection

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

North Dome and Merced River Trees, Winter

February 25, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Black and white photograph of North Dome and bare winter trees reflected in the Merced River near the swinging bridge, Yosemite Valley, California.

After first getting distracted by dawn light on Yosemite Falls – and joining a small throng of other photographers shooting this exact same subject (he writes, somewhat embarrassed… ;-) – I pulled myself together and wandered off along the Merced on this frosty morning looking for scenes that were a bit less obvious. I’m not going to claim that this one is completely non-iconic – I can’t since North Dome, in the upper center of the frame, is a fairly well known feature of the Valley. However, the thing that mostly caught my attention here was the skeletal shapes of the dormant trees along the Merced River and the way they lined up across the scene creating some interesting symmetries and forms against the background of the upper end of The Valley.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 35mm f/2
two blended images: ISO 100, f/11, 1/40 second and ISO 10, f/11, 1/10 second

keywords: yosemite, valley, national, park, california, usa, north america, meadow, swinging, bridge, cottonwood, silhouette, grass, sky, north, dome, royal, arches, snow, reflection, ripple, morning, light, black and white, monochrome, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, clouds rest, landscape, scenic, travel, nature, bare, forest, grove, stock

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brick and Concrete Buildings, Mare Island

February 21, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Night photography of brick and concrete buildings under artificial lighting with star trails at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

The Mare Island night photography well has still not quite run dry – so here is one more from my February 6 shoot there with The Nocturnes. I spent a fair amount of time poking around the spaces near this brilliantly lit concrete building and the darker brick building beyond, photographing the two buildings from various angles and directions. The contrast between the artificially lit plain concrete walls of the foreground building and the darker and more textured brick walls of the further building was striking, and I’ve been intrigued for some time by the reflections and glow of the windows up high on the roof. This exposure was long enough that the high clouds moved and created the linear blurred shapes you see in the sky, interspersed with subtle but numerous star trails.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mare, island, naval, ship, yard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, nocturnes, night, photography, structures, minsy, concrete, brick, building, wall, window, light, reflection, shadow, fence, roof, sky, cloud, star, trail, yellow, vent, architecture, asphalt, puddle, industrial, stock, north america

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