Tag Archives: reflection

Lake in Shadow

Lake in Shadow
“Lake in Shadow” — Morning light strikes cliffs above a shadowed Sierra Nevada lake.

For more than a decade, during most summers I have spent a solid week in the Sierra Nevada backcountry with fellow photographers, base-camped at various beautiful locations. (Travel and other things have interfered during the past two years.) These trips give us the opportunity to focus on photographing a limited area in a variety of conditions. On these trips we live in one small area for a week, and photograph only what we can walk to, frequently revisiting subjects several times.

This lake was just below our camp, and of course we photographed it many times — morning and night, sunshine, rain, fog, you name it. Most often I hoped for light that would open shadows in the landscape, but on this morning I decided to go with the shade and let portions of the image remain dark. In fact, the luminosity curve of this photograph is weighted strongly to the dark end of the scale. But I think that it captures the quiet mood here as the sun worked its way up the far valley toward “our 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog

Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog
“Clearing Storm, Lake, and Fog” — Evening fog drifts over moutains around a Sierra Nevada mountain lake as storm clouds clear.

I made this photograph on a rather remarkable Sierra evening. Late the previous day it had started to rain. Contrary to my expectations and experience, this turned out to not be just another afternoon shower — it absolutely poured, confining us to tents for hours and restricting our photography well into the next day. Finally the rain began to let up and we got out, though everything remained gray and wet. It wasn’t until the second evening, right around sunset, that the clouds finally broke enough to let in some light. But what light it was — perhaps a reward for our forbearance during the storm!

This photograph has been sitting in the archives for quite some time. I have looked at it in periodically and puzzled over how to handle it. The challenge was that the sky color was bright and extremely intense, so my exposure had to leave the foreground in deep shadow. This week I came back to the photo and figured out how to process it. Part of the challenge was technical, but it was also aesthetic — a question of how bright to make things and still retain the sense of oncoming twilight.


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: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Cobblestones in Rain, York

Cobblestones in Rain, York
“Cobblestones in Rain, York” — Rain-slicked cobblestones in York, England.

The weather was rather varied during our brief early June stay in York, England. As I share photographs from the visit, you’ll see some made in lovely sun and others, like this, in more challenging weather. We were out for a wander on this day and clouds eventually turned to rain as we walked near the Yorkminster Church. As the light rain started — and before we decided to beat a retreat to a nearby restaurant for shelter and lunch — I paused to make this photograph of a cobbled street.

Photographs of particular places can suggest them to varying degrees. Clearly a photograph of a specific, iconic feature ties the image to the location with precision. Other photographs may work more subtly, perhaps capturing something of the mood of the place without shouting its name. And others may not be location-specific at all — like this one, which features a small scene that you could probably find on a rainy day in many places.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Window Detail, Glasgow

Window Detail, Glasgow
“Window Detail, Glasgow” — Detail of an old window at the University of Glasgow.

As I wrote previously, we ended up on the campus of Glasgow University more or less by accident. A long walk toward West End took us within sight of its famous tower, and that was enough to convince to detour for a closer look. The tower and building from which it rises are built in striking Neo-Gothic style, and once we got there we could not resist wandering into its inner courtyards.

My attention was first drawn to the large and impressive features of the place — its tower, the tall buildings, the large internal courtyards, and the columns and arches beneath a wing that separates them. But as we walked around I became more aware of fascinating small details. This close up photograph includes some of the stone construction. At the very bottom is a bit of old, lichen-encrusted stone.with more polished stone forming the frame of the window.


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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | PostEmail

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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