Tag Archives: road

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Canyon, Evening Light

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Desert Canyon, Evening Light
Evening light shines into a very rugged and colorful desert canyon.

Desert Canyon, Evening Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light shines into a very rugged and colorful desert canyon.

Late in the afternoon the light was dying quickly. Clouds were coming in from the north and creating a lid across most of the sky. We saw a bit of sunlight on the desert floor to the south, so we drove in that direction, hoping to get there before that light also was lost. Unfortunately, as we got closer that light also began to be cut off by the clouds and by the mountains to the west, as the lowering sun reached the summit ridge.

Looking up at those mountains, it appeared that there was a thin spot in the clouds a bit north of our position, so we took one more chance and now headed back to the north. The potential was there for a few moments of light as the sun emerged from behind those clouds, shining through the thinner clods, and casting soft but directional light on this area of colorful geology. Sure enough, as soon as we arrived in this area that soft sunlight appeared. We knew we had only a short time to work before the sun dropped behind the mountains again, and the wind was blowing like crazy, so simply made a few careful handheld exposures as the light shining into this colorful canyon peaked.

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: Nature, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Southern California

Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain

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Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain
A gravel road passes through a barbed wire fence, Carrizo Plain National Monument

Road And Fence, Carrizo Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gravel road passes through a barbed wire fence, Carrizo Plain National Monument.

My inclination is to approach photography in locations like the Carrizo Plain as photography of the “natural landscape.” However, the story is a bit more complicated here and, to be honest, in quite a few places in the areas of the American West where I photograph. I’m hard pressed to think of a place I’ve visited where the “hand of man” was not present in some way. In many places this influence is not obvious. For example, in parts of the Sierra backcountry I can entertain the illusion that I’m the only visitor. But in many places around the periphery of these wildernesses and in many other locations it is clear that such an illusion is hard to maintain.

In the Carrizo this is very clear, even though there is plenty of nature to see there. We could start with the obvious fact that access is by roadways that are, even at their worst, pretty decent. More obviously, this is a place where cattle are raised and, no doubt, have been for a long time. I drove out onto the plain at this spot to see vast fields of yellow and purple wildflowers and to find a long view of surrounding mountains. When I arrived I found a pair of the ubiquitous water tanks (this time nearly destroyed), and old windmill, a few other structures, and this barbed wire fencing.

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

Green Building, Berlin

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Green Building, Berlin
A street scene in Berlin with a green building

Green Building, Berlin. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A street scene in Berlin with a green building.

Since I’m not an expert in architecture I probably don’t have the correct description terms at my fingertips, but this area of Berlin that lies just on the “East German” side of the old Berlin wall still seems to be characterized by what I’ve heard described as Soviet-Style architecture… but with a few interesting exceptions. Many of the large buildings here have, at least to my eye, that functional, modern, practical look of the 1950s and 196 0s — a kind of modernism that no longer looks all that modern

This green structure — whose purpose I did not investigate — is striking against this background and in this location literally across the street from The Wall. It appears to have been conglomerated from shipping containers, creating an ad hoc and temporary quality. (It isn’t the only example of such things I saw in Europe and the UK.) It sits at an odd angle, out of sync with both the surrounding grid of roadways and the backdrop of more “square” buildings. And that color!

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

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Climbing The Stairs

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Climbing The Stairs
A woman slowly climbs stairs near the entrance to a tunnel, San Francisco

Climbing The Stairs. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman slowly climbs stairs near the entrance to a tunnel, San Francisco.

The last time I took one of my quick trips to San Francisco to do street photography was months ago, and I’ve been planning recently to get back up there. Yesterday I finally found time. My photographic ritual there is pretty straightforward: I get up very early and catch a train up the Peninsula, typically arriving by about 7:00am. I travel light, with only the gear that will fit in a very small shoulder bag that doesn’t really look like camera gear. I walk, and this time I wandered close to eight miles over the course of about four hours, traveling through some areas that are run down in interesting ways, through the center of the financial district, and into the Columbus and Grant and Stockton streets areaI.

I enjoy street photography for several reasons. To be honest, as much as I love the natural world, I also love cities, and even more I love wandering through them on foot. Photographically-speaking, they provide a rich lab environment for finding compositions, color, people, and more. Street photography is usually be done unencumbered by the bulky gear I often use for landscapes, and I love the spontaneous aspects of it. This photograph embodies a number of things that I look for when photographing street. I’m always attracted by color and patterns and light — and this scene just inside the end of a tunnel is full of all of these 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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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