Tag Archives: river

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Building, Bridge

September 27, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Chicago bridge against the background of a modern blue building

When I began to go through my photographs from this August 2014 Chicago visit, I was surprised at home many of the downtown architecture photographs — at least those that didn’t focus on the older stone facade buildings — featured the color blue. It seems to be found everywhere. In many cases it is just a matter of the building actually being constructed of blue materials, but I think that Chicago’s relative openness to the sky may emphasize the effect even more.

One of the river bridges makes an abbreviate appearance near the bottom of the frame, with its bridge tending house poking up above the deck of the bridge. Beyond is a fairly typical — to me, at least — wall of modern Chicago buildings, towering above the streets and once again featuring that blue color.

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

Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne

September 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Haze fills the westward view into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River

Far below the location of this photograph lies one of the greatest travesties in the national park system — the abomination of the Hetch Hetchy dam and reservoir. I now understand the political pressures that led to the damming of this “second Yosemite” — San Francisco’s obsession with water following the 1906 great earthquake and the subsequent fire — but in retrospect this was a monumental offense to the purpose and goals of our great national parks. The Hetch Hetchy Valley had virtually everything that its more southerly neighbor has and which astound people from all over the world — towering cliffs, beautiful domes, forest and meadow along a great river on the valley floor, tall waterfalls. After years of absence from this prostituted place, I returned a year or two ago on an afternoon when I was heading home from the Sierra… and I felt only anger and disgust at the the damned dam.

But here, miles upstream, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River is still a wilderness, protected from overcrowding by tall and steep walls and a narrow gorge. In the late afternoon I walked a ridge near the edge of the canyon and looked west into the maze of successive ridges that separate creeks that feed the river and made this photograph.

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

Dusk, Canyon, Trees

September 23, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees on a ledge above a deep granite backcountry canyon catch the last light of the day

Late on this afternoon several of us wandered of to a nearby promontory, from which panoramic views of a large section of the Yosemite high country were available, along with more intimate subjects of granite boulders and trees growing tenuously on granite slabs. This is fun terrain to explore — open enough that you can go wherever you can find a way and wherever your skills and comfort with heights will permit, yet full on surprising little features worth seeing and photographing.

Soon the light began to fade from this high point as the sun dropped to the horizon, and it was time to start back toward camp. If I timed things just right I could shoot a bit into the post-sunset evening light and still have enough light left to pick my way down the ridge and then through the lakeside forest in diminishing light. As I descended along the spine of a glaciated granite ridge, the views overlooked the gorge of the Tuolumne River, and this valley was filled with luminous blue hour light. I found a spot with a fairly clear view across slightly lower, tree-covered ledges, and made a few photographs into the canyon, using my hands to shield the lens from the last bit of direct light before the sun dropped below the horizon.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

North Chicago River

September 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The North Chicago River and downtown area buildings

Early in the morning we took what I believe was the first boat on the Chicago River Tour, the (deservedly) popular way to see and learn about the architecture of Chicago that lines the river and its branches. Despite the peaceful and bucolic scene along the banks of this section of the river, the waterway has a bit of a troubled past and still has a quite a way to go before its water quality is sufficiently restored. (One memorable line from the tour narrator pointed out that only in Chicago would it be regarded as environmental progress when a river’s status “rose” from “toxic” to “polluted. ;-)

In any case, there is a lot to see from the river since much of the downtown is very close to its banks, and many additional things that you wouldn’t notice from the sidewalk or road are visible from down on the water. There is a lot of redevelopment work going on, and areas that were apparently once industrial are now being converted to residential and related use. It is possible to walk many sections of the river, and kayakers are a frequent sight. This photograph looks back toward central Chicago from the north branch of the river and past sections where trees line portions of the bank.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: river

Blue Building, Bridge

Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne

Dusk, Canyon, Trees

North Chicago River

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