Tag Archives: sky

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Building And Shadow, Tuscany

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Building And Shadow, Tuscany
A cloud drifts in the sky above stone buildings in Tuscany

Building And Shadow, Tuscany. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud drifts in the sky above stone buildings in Tuscany

If you follow my posts you may have noticed quite a few post from Italy recently, and you might be wondering why. Have you been to Italy? ;-) OK, there are more objective reasons I can share. I make a habit of reviewing older work a year or more after I make the photographs. I see the images differently with a bit more subjective distance from the actual experience. There’s another reason, too, and it ties the place I live (California) to Italy it ways that have only recently made more sense to me. This spring and summer as I’ve walked trails in California’s grass and oak lands on warm days, it has hit me just how similar the experiences can be. And a visit to an area winery on such a day reinforced that feeling. So I suppose I’ve been enjoying both the pleasant memories of the 2016 visit from which this photograph comes and the realization that I live in a place that shares some Italy’s pleasant features.

This is one of a pair of related photographs I made at an Italian vineyard and winery we visited — both focus on the stone buildings and midday shadows. (The related image will show up here in a later post.) The vineyard centers on a very old hamlet consisting of stone buildings surrounded by vineyard. We were there in the middle of the day, and the unique Italian light was wonderful. I’m not quite sure how to describe it in words, but it has some remarkable combination of the intensity of southern light along with the softness of the Italian atmosphere.

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

Lake And Mountains, Morning Light

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Lake And Mountains, Morning Light
High Sierra peaks in morning light, reflected in still waters of a subalpine lake

Lake And Mountains, Morning Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

High Sierra peaks in morning light, reflected in still waters of a subalpine lake.

Our group spent a week base-camped in this location a few years ago, getting to know the area intimately and photographing it and its surroundings extensively. The spot is quite beautiful, but many of its beauties don’t reveal themselves immediately. In fact, when I passed by here some years earlier I don’t recall even stopping! My only memory is of walking past a campsite and continuing toward my more distant goal. But a week spent in such a place — or almost any similar place — inevitably turns up treasures that are overlooked when passing through.

It turned out that a short walk in any of several directions took us to all sorts of photographic subjects: wildflower-filled meadows, granite slab country, streams meandering through timberline meadows, expansive views. In most cases “short walk” meant something between ten minutes and perhaps an hour. In the case of this photograph it meant “5 minute amble before breakfast!”

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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Crescent City Sunset

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Crescent City Sunset
Sunset over beach, sea stacks, and Pacific Ocean at Crescent City, California

Crescent City Sunset. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset over beach, sea stacks, and Pacific Ocean at Crescent City, California.

This photograph came about in a somewhat odd way, if I recall correctly — though it isn’t the first to happen in a similar impromptu manner. This area of California’s north coast is beautiful and spectacular. We were there mainly to photograph in the redwoods, hoping that the oft-photographed foggy conditions would coincide with the rhododendron bloom. We got the bloom… but not the fog. It was about as clear up there as it ever gets. This sometimes made for slightly awkward photography. The foggy conditions can (or should I say, “could?”) extend the duration of photography, but without at times we found ourselves out of things to photograph.

My memory is that something like that happened on this evening. We had been photographing in redwoods south of Crescent City, with some success, but the light quickly passed through the ideal stage (enough of it, but not too much direct light) and became too dark to photograph, especially giving a bit of wind that was interfering with long exposures. So we headed back to town… only to see a sky over the Pacific that looked like it could evolve into something special. We headed out to the edge of the water, and I “made my stand” at this spot overlooking this large rock connected to the mainland by a narrow spit of sand. (Aside from the beauty of the scene, there was one strange moment. As I stood behind my tripod, some slightly inebriated fellow holding a beer can walked up and wobbly inquired, ” Is that the Canon 70-200?” It obviously wasn’t at that point. Then, “WERE you using the 70-200 earlier?” OK, yes, I had been. “Thanks,” he replied,” that’s what I thought. That means my buddy owes me another beer.”)

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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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.

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

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm

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Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm
A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset

Dunes, Mountains, Sand Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sand storm blows a cloud of dust into desert mountains at sunset.

This early-April afternoon and evening produced remarkable conditions in Death Valley. I had seen the advance warnings of high winds and sand storms so I was already thinking of the potential conditions beforehand, but late in the day I noted that dust clouds were already visible far to the north. But the wind-driven sand and dust wasn’t the only interesting element — a weather front was also moving through, stacking up spectacular clouds, some of which were managing to drop some rain.

We did a big loop northward along the eastern slopes of the valley, climbing a ways into the Amargosa Range before coming back down to the valley, where the winds continued and dust and sand were blowing everywhere. We stopped in the thick of it, and I thought about a technique I often use in these conditions: photographing with a long lens from inside the vehicle. But that presented two problems: opening a window even a crack quickly let in piles of sand, and the subjects I was interested were in all directions. So I got out, cowering in the leeward side of the vehicle, and photographed as the sand blew, clouds to the west began to thin, and sunset light struck the mountains to my east.

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.