Tag Archives: shadows

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Temblor Range, Carrizo Plain, Spring

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Temblor Range, Carrizo Plain, Spring
The Temblor Range and spring growth, Carrizo Plain National Monument

Temblor Range, Carrizo Plain, Spring. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Temblor Range and spring growth, Carrizo Plain National Monument.

One the first day of this recent visit to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, I arrived in the middle of the afternoon. I had driven down from the San Francisco Bay Area, choosing to start out later than sometimes since I knew I would not get there for first light. My plan was to arrive in time to set up a campsite and then head out for some late-day and evening photography. I arrived, found a campsite at a location a few miles into the hills on a gravel road, and then travelled back down toward the valley a couple of hours before sunset.

This was among the first photographs of the afternoon. Conditions were quite interesting — rain showers were about (and, in fact, I set up my camp in light rain) but there was also sunlight between the showers. Longer views often included some of the rain, some dark shadows under clouds, and patches of sunlight moving across the landscape. Here I found a place where those bit of sunlight fell on a close hill full of new plants and yellow flowers, and where the longer (ten mile) view across the valley looked out on the location of the San Andreas Fault and the base of the Temblor Range.

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

Water Tanks, Mountains and Plain

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Water Tanks, Mountains and Plain
Two abandoned water tanks at Carrizo Plain National Monument in spring

Water Tanks, Mountains and Plain. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two abandoned water tanks at Carrizo Plain National Monument in spring.

These old and apparently abandoned water tanks sit over a small seasonal stream a good distance up above the floor of the Carrizo Plain. You would think that the purpose of the tanks would be obvious, but I’m not so sure. I did a bit of (less-than-diligent) research to try to discover their purpose, but what little I came up with seemed to have less of the character of being based on primary sources and more than of something reportedly heard by someone who was told something by someone who thought they remembered that… You get the picture. I can think of two possibilities. As some sources report, they could have been built to ensure a year-round water supply for cattle operations. It also seems possible that they could have been connected to resource extraction operations, such as those at Soda Lake.

The presence of the tanks is a reminder that this landscape (like most landscapes, to be honest) has a strong human element — it isn’t exactly wilderness! When people visit the Carrizo today they most likely come to see the natural phenomenon of the springtime wildflowers. But the place has been shaped by oil exploration and (nearby) extraction, cattle ranching, “mining” of various sorts, and more. All of that aside, the backdrop for these remnant structures, especially on a spring day when rain showers alternated with sunshine, is an immense and spectacular landscape.

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

Sand, Branches, Shadows

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Sand, Branches, Shadows
Shadows of dried branches on windblown sand dunes

Sand, Branches, Shadows. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows of dried branches on windblown sand dunes.

A small group of photographers ventured into the dunes early on this late-winter morning, starting out from the nearby roadway in pre-dawn darkness. As we walked the sky began to get lighter and before long we could begin to make our our surroundings and our destination in an out-of-the-way area of dunes. Along the way we were surprised — though in retrospect we should not have been — by muddy areas still soaked by recent rains.

The sun still was not up when we arrived at the edge of the dunes. As a group of five photographers we encountered a slight challenge — compared to when we photograph such places alone, we found that we had to consider every step regarding how our tracks would potentially intrude on our partners’ photographs! While dunes are mostly sand, there is quite a lot of life there, too. Early in the morning it is common to find the tracks of lizards, snakes, birds, and even small animals. Here and there plant life can be found, too. These spindly branches mostly looked dead, though a few retained the color of living plants and might soon put out a few post-rain leaves.

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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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

Wet Sidewalk, Shadows

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Wet Sidewalk, Shadows
Shadows and a man walking on a wet sidewalk, San Francisco

Wet Sidewalk, Shadows. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows and a man walking on a wet sidewalk, San Francisco.

Street photographs come about in all sorts of ways. Quite often my approach is to locate an “urban landscape” composition and then wait for people to populate it. Sometimes I photograph without people in the scene at all. On other occasions the person may be the triggering subject, and instead of finding a person to fill the landscape I try to find a landscape to build around the person. In other photographs the primary objects may by colors or geometry. And often it all happens so quickly that there is almost no time to contemplate before making the photograph — do it now or it is gone.

This photograph brings a few of these threads together. It was most certainly one of those “no time to contemplate” photographs. As I walked down this street I realized that the sidewalk held both reflecting water and the angles of shadows. (Every time I see something like this I remember a particular winter photograph I made in New York City a few years back.) Both I and the subject were in motion, walking along this sidewalk in the direction of the Caltrain station, so almost without breaking step I raised the camera and managed to get one frame.

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.