Tag Archives: silhouette

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Old Tree, Central Park

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Photograph: Old Tree, Central Park
“Old Tree, Central Park” — A gigantic old tree with spreading branches in Central Park, Manhattan.

We were in New York City during the holidays this past December. We had just the right amount of snowfall, an inch or so to create a mood but not enough to bring things to a standstill. We stayed not far from Central Park — perhaps a ten minute walk from the west past the natural history museum — and we visited on several mornings. I’ve come to understand how Manhattanites value the place as their portal to nature.

Much of the snow had melted by the time of this visit, but if you look closely you may notice a bit left on the grassy area under the tree. The park is full of remarkable groves and individual trees, but this specimen especially caught my attention. It is a very big tree and its branches spread widely over this area of meadow.

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.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Winter Trees, Dawn Sky

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“Winter Trees, Dawn Sky” — Bare winter trees silhouetted against a foggy dawn sky.

The large tree in this scene has been the subject of at least one other recently-shared photograph of mine. The earlier image focused almost exclusively on the tree. It was shot with a longer focal length, and the tree nearly fills the frame. Here I used a wide angle lens and worked from a distance, showing the tree it the context of its landscape surroundings.

This was a lovely morning at this Central Valley location. Thick pre-dawn tule fog began to drift and thin at first light, revealing muted views of the landscape. The fog was shallow, and overhead the sky was streaked with lines of clouds catching the first colorful light of the new day.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Photographs: Nature

Water Plants, Fog

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Water plants
“Water Plants, Fog” — Water plants in a wetlands pond enveloped by tule fog.

When I photograph in the wetlands I am always fascinated by plants that grow in the shallow water, and especially by the stark forms of winter-dormant plants. The background of water — often reflecting sky — lets us see the forms of the plants without the distractions that would render them hard to see in dry areas.

Here I had an added advantage from tule fog that obscured anything more than a few yards away from me. (The slightly more distant plants at upper left are already muted by the fog.) The air was also still — or the fog would have dissipated — and this helped smooth the surface of the water, leaving just enough rippling to add a bit of texture suggesting the watery background

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oak Tree, Sun and Fog

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“Oak Tree, Sun and Fog” — Sunlight streams through thinning fog on a hillside behind an old oak tree.

This is the third and final photograph from my recent local “foggy morning” photography. To recap, when low fog stuck around here for hours (it usually dissipates very early) I headed out to the local rural landscape to make some photographs. This tree is in an area south of San Jose that was once destined to be a technology park. There’s a lot of history there, but the short story is that after the local government gave in to developer pressure there were no takers for the technology park. Today it remains relatively rural and is increasingly protected. I’d call that a victory!

The tree is on private land, from what I can tell, though clearly visible from a nearby roadway. The hills in the background form a low ridge that roughly parallels the edge of the valley for miles. At the moment I made the photograph the tree was out of the fog, but it was just thinning in the hills, and beautiful slanted columns of light formed between the shadows of trees.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | BlueSky | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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