Buds emerge on a plant growing in deep forest shade.
Photos are temporarily being shared without additional commentary. Watch for commentary to resume in late summer.
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.
Upper Yosemite Fall near the peak of the 2023 spring snowmelt runoff.
After many years photographing this Valley and seeing photographs others have made there, I often look for subjects other than the iconic waterfalls, domes and peaks. It isn’t that I’m not interested — it is just that I’m not sure the world needs (yet) another straight-on photograph of “that thing” in the same, familiar light. So, despite the fact that the flow over the waterfalls was near historic levels during my late-May visit, I didn’t make many waterfall photographs. But I did make this one.
It was mid-afternoon and the light was mostly “plain vanilla.” But clouds were forming east of the Valley and moving west, producing some interesting shadows. Upper Yosemite Fall was in full sunlight when I set up my camera, thinking about how I might silhouette those trees against the flood of the waterfall. But soon those cloud shadows began to darken the granite faces, and for a brief moment a narrow shaft of light lit the waterfall, set against the darker cliffs.
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.
Sand dunes provide an endless laboratory for experimenting with curves, light, shadow, and texture. To the best of my memory, I have never failed to photograph then during a visit to Death Valley National Park, and some of the dunes have become old friends. But that long familiarity doesn’t eliminate surprises, and I discover something new on every visit.
I photographed this scene on a late-March morning, back when the weather in the region was still more like winter than summer. In fact, this clear and pleasant morning was a bit of an exception, and we encountered snow, high winds, and rain at other points during our visit.
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.
This is actually a “spring” season photograph — I’ll explain. Recently we took advantage of a break in the California storms to visit a large garden. It comes alive this time of year, and right about now various colorful bulbs are blooming. I’ll share some of those photographs soon, too. The bowls are actually large garden pots for plants that I spotted as we walked though a small shop on the way into the garden.
When Im visually “on” I start to see things like this everywhere. This subject appeals to my natural interest in forms, colors, and textures — something that I think underlies a lot of my photography, even when the apparent subject is the landscape, wildlife, or city subjects.
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.
