Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Red Rock, Capitol Reef

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Red Rock, Capitol Reef - Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Red Rock, Capitol Reef. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. April 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red rock sandstone formations, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

I’m afraid that our time in Capitol Reef National Park during our early April visit to Utah was extremely limited – essentially we just passed through on highway 12 on the day we travelled from Zion (where we had spent several days) to Moab. I wish I could have had some real time to explore this area, but at least I got a glimpse of it – enough that I know to put in on my list of places to revisit when I have more time on a future trip.

As we passed through Capitol Reef, aside from viewing things from the car, we made two stops. One was in the Fruita district area to see some petroglyphs and the other was this viewpoint along the highway, from which there was an impressive panorama of the beautiful red rock country. Although this was perhaps not the ideal time of day for photography, the weather gods cooperated enough to give me a bit of high, thin overcast to soften the light and to place these beautiful layered clouds above and beyond the sandstone ridge.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street, Photographs: Wildlife

Room in Abandoned Building, The Embarcadero

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Room in Abandoned Building, The Embarcadero - The interior of an abandoned waterfront building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco.
The interior of an abandoned waterfront building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco.

Room in Abandoned Building, The Embarcadero. San Francisco, California. April 20, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The interior of an abandoned waterfront building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco.

This interior is a room in a building located on one of the piers along the Embarcadero on San Francisco’s waterfront. This one is located not far from the South Beach Harbor. It seems to be one of those old structures that was recently adapted for use by companies that had the “look” of being part of the tech boom in the city – perhaps design firms or similar. I have walked past it many times, occasionally photographing the exterior windows and other features, but otherwise not noticing it all that much.

On my last walk past this spot things had changed, to say the least. There were signs along entrances that declared that the pier had been closed, ostensibly for safety reasons, and that no trespassing was allowed. No one seemed to be inside the building, and most of the businesses appeared to have left or been abandoned. Though one set of windows I could see stacks of boxes labelled with intended mail recipients, but that mail wasn’t going anywhere! Near the north end of the building I could see into this sun-filled room, with its tall windows facing the bay and the morning sun. Almost everything was removed from the building, giving it almost the same abandoned feeling that I often experience when shooting at Mare Island. I managed to push my camera up against a window, block reflections from the street behind me with my hand, and make a few perhaps final photographs of this space.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | 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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers

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Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers - The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.
The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.

Moonrise, Clouds, and Sandstone Towers. Arches National Park, Utah. April 5, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The full moon rises through thin clouds above sandstone towers, Arches National Park.

This was a very challenging evening for photography, but I’m happy with some of the results nonetheless. We had gone into Arches National Park and made it to the first big group of arches and other formations not far from what I recall was identified as Balancing Rock. Not far from here there is an impressive amphitheater of red rock sandstone, and all through this area a truly astonishing number of arches of various forms and sizes may be found. Since it was late in the day, we figured we would stake out our ground for golden hour and dusk shots right around here.

However, there were a few challenges. First, we were arriving at this spot for the very first time, with no previous research, and it was basically time to start shooting right about now! There was little to no time for scouting, so I headed up a trail towards a likely looking area of sandstone to see what I could find as the sunset approached. I soon discovered a second issue, or perhaps realized that an issue I had known about was going to be more challenging than I had hoped – it was very windy! As the light dims this becomes more of a problem as exposures necessarily lengthen. At some point, there is virtually no tripod that is steady enough, even when weighted, to hold a camera and lens rock steady in a near gale. I have some tricks up my sleeve though, and eventually I searched out some camera positions that were sheltered by rock towers and walls. By this time, the sun had dropped below the horizon and I was now shooting it twilight, which can provide some of the most beautiful light of the day when the right sort of “glow” occurs. It turned out that the full moon was just rising, though not over the main, iconic formations. There is usually a narrow window of exposure opportunity for photographing the moon. The moon is hard to shoot effectively in full daylight, but after dark it is far too bright for the ambient light – so one ideal is to shoot it in this time right around dusk when there is just the right balance of moon light and ambient light. Lucky for me, high thin clouds moved across the sky to the east and moderated the brightness of the full moon, allowing me to continue shooting in darker conditions so that I could make this exposure of the moon rising above nearby sandstone formations.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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: Abstract, Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pilings and Sky

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Pilings and Sky - Pilings stretch toward the sky at a San Francisco construction site
Pilings stretch toward the sky at a San Francisco construction site

Pilings and Sky. San Francisco, California. April 20, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pilings stretch toward the sky at a San Francisco construction site.

On this April morning I was walking around in the China Basin, Mission Bay area of San Francisco, having arrived on the train at the Fourth and Townsend Caltrain station very early. After photographing some light reflected in buildings not far from the station, I wandered over towards the Mission Bay area. There is a lot of construction going on in this “neighborhood” right now, and one particular block was a hotbed of work.

At one corner of this block work was well underway to set a large number of tall pilings into the ground for – I assume – a building that is soon to be erected here. I managed to maneuver myself into a spot where I could eliminate most of the other distractions and compose a photograph of these structures pointing toward the sky.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | 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.