Tag Archives: santa clara

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Santa Couch

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Santa Couch
Santa Couch

Santa Couch. San Jose, California. December 27, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Santa Claus figure on a window behind a gaudily colorful couch on the front porch of an urban home, San Jose, California

Sometimes something catches my attention and I have to photograph it, even though I can’t quite put my finger on why. This might be one of those photographs. On this late afternoon of a late December day, I did something that I often seem to do about this time each year, namely take a camera and walk out my front door and wander around making photographs. I didn’t make too many on this day – perhaps fewer than two dozen.

When I carry the camera I see things that I would almost certainly miss completely if I were just out walking from point A to point B. With the camera in hand I tend to saunter along slowly, stopping to look at things or occasionally wander up a driveway. There is something just a bit strange about this giant, bright Alice-In-Wonderland couch with the face of Santa Clause peeking over the back.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

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Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog
Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog

Oaks and Hills, Winter Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning winter fog clears from the oak forest and grassland of the Calero Hills, California.

This is a sort of scene that seems to me to be a prototypical California view. Almost anywhere you go west of the Sierra and away from either the redwoods or deserts, you won’t be too far from places like this that feature grassland, oak trees, and some sort of vertical relief in the landscape. This area happens to be a short drive from where I live. It is merely a local county park and not a place that most would regard as special. However, because it is so close, I have been able to spend a great deal of time here in all seasons, at all times of the day, and in all sorts of weather conditions. Eventually I found that there is an almost unending supply of potential photographic subjects even in this spot that would certainly not impress most people as being exceptional.

I made this photograph back near the beginning of 2010, and shortly after that a posted an early version here. That version was in a slightly wider format and it was in color. As part of my year-end review of all of my raw files from 2010, I saw this image again in its original form… and this time I saw it a bit differently, in black and white and with a more “traditional” 4:5 ratio format. Contrary to what I though originally, I now think that the narrower format does a more effective job of juxtaposing the stacked angles of close, middle and far ridges, and it also let me eliminate some stuff along the margins that now seems distracting to me.

To the extent that this version of the image works, I think it illustrates something that I’ve heard others say and which resonates with my own experience, namely that it is sometimes easier to “see” what is in a photograph when you get a bit more distance from the act of “capturing” it.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Beetle and Flowers

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Beetle and Flowers
Beetle and Flowers

Beetle and Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. Apriol 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Macro photograph of a beetle on spring California wildflowers.

I think I’m posting this one more or less because… I can! I was out last month trying to get to know a new piece of equipment, an extension tube. I’ve been experimenting to find out which of my lenses work most effectively with it, and trying to understand the best ways to use it in the field. On this day I figured out a few interesting and useful things. First, contrary to my expectations, the best way to shoot these subjects was to use manual focus and a 24-105 zoom lens. I would have thought that AF would have been more effective, but I found I could manually focus, then move slightly forward and backward with the shutter half depressed, and watch for the AF confirmation lights to come on. One of the biggest surprises was that this lens, which is not exactly known for its wonderful bokeh, turns out to produce really nice blurred backgrounds at large apertures with the extension tube. Who’d have guessed!?

So, a photograph of some anonymous beetle was one of the results.

Technical Data:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 70mm plus extension tube
ISO 400, f/4, 1/320 second

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email
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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Larkspur Blossoms

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Larkspur Blossoms
Larkspur Blossoms

Larkspur Blossoms. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 20, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring larkspur flowers against a soft background of sunlit spring greenery, Almaden Quicksilver Park, California.

I made this photograph back in early April as spring flowers were just starting to really blossom in my favorite flower-filled gully at the Almaden Quicksilver Park near San Jose, California. The larkspur flowers often blossom early and pass quickly through their prime phase, and seem to be pretty delicate flowers to begin with – so I was glad to get there at the right time to photograph these specimens.

I photographed them against a background of grasses with the scene lit by sunlight filtered through high clouds. Using the maximum aperture of f/4 on the 24-105mm zoom (with an extension tube) made for very narrow depth of field and allowed me to throw almost everything in the frame other than the central flower out of focus.

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.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM with extension tubes at 105mm
ISO 400, f/4, 1/250 second

keywords: larkspur, flower, plant, flora, foliage, wildflower, bloom, blossom, stem, branch, leaf, bokeh, blur, soft, background, purple, green, nature, san jose, santa clara, county, park, almaden, quicksilver, california, usa, north america, stock