The spring torrent of cascade creek fills its narrow canyon with mist behind trees growing among the rocks.
I’ve been sitting on this second photograph of Cascade Creek, shot back near the beginning of June, trying to make some decisions about cropping and so forth. I finally have decided that I think I like this somewhat unusual (for me, at least) square format for this image.
Cascade Creek crosses beneath Big Oak Flat Road as it descends toward the Merced River and Yosemite Valley. For a few weeks during the spring snow melt season it can turn into a powerfully flowing stream, whose power is amplified by the steep descent and narrowness of the rock channel it follows.
Morning light slants though the trunks of tall redwood trees near Bohemian Grove, Muir Woods National Monument, California.
I was surprised by somewhat sunny conditions on this mid-April visit to Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco, California. When I left my home in the South Bay very early in the morning it was quite cloudy, and the forecast was for even cloudier (and more persistently cloudy) conditions north of the Golden Gate Bridge. But as I drove through the City the clouds cleared to the north and by the time I was across the Golden Gate it was almost clear, with just a bit of nice high cloudiness to diffuse the light a bit.
I arrived at Muir Woods early enough that I got a parking spot in the closest lot. (Those who visit the place often and who are familiar with the crush of tourists later in the day understand what this means… ;-) As I usually do, I wanders slowly up the trail alongside Redwood Creek, taking in as much of the scene (visual, auditory, olfactory, etc.) as I looked for photographs. Eventually I made it to the bridge (Bridge #2) that crosses the creek just above the old Bohemian Grove. This is a spot where I often photograph if the crowds aren’t too bad – there is a lot to see right here! There are some deciduous trees whose leaves can catch the filtered light in interesting ways; the creek flows through, in places with ferns right down to the waterline; and there are lots of very tall redwood trees. I’ve been working on some photographs in landscape orientation that show groups for the trees, focusing primarily on their massive and parallel trunks – in fact, one from the series on this visit consists of a stitch of something like five horizontal frames. This one is more conventional and is a single exposure.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
A man in a dark suit holding a bag and standing between two cars in front of old buildings in downtown San Francisco, California.
A quick street photo while walking into the fringes of the Tenderloin in San Francisco on the first weekend of March. I’m not sure how much sense this photograph may make to others, but there is a lot in it that appeals to me. For one thing I like the muted color scheme – most everything is some shade of black or near-gray or muted tan, with just a few spots of color. Even the man between the two cars is wearing only black and white clothing. Then there is the very busy but blocky pattern of the front of the buildings behind the man and the cars. However, to my eye at least, several types of order emerge from the complexity of these shapes. For example several elements create forms that rise diagonally from left to right: the two cars, the two balconies, the line through the left window, the dark doorway, and the lighter window in the center right section. And then there are the window reflections – which are becoming a bit of an urban photography theme for me. I also look at the man and wonder what he is doing – why is he wearing that particular set of clothes? What is in the small bag he holds? What is he looking for?
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Morning light slants through the windows and across the floor of the old schoolhouse in the ghost town of Rhyolite Nevada.
Although it is not the most iconic structure at the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada (very close to Death Valley National Park), I’m intrigued by the ruins of the old Rhyolite School. It is one of the more intact structures – while the roof is gone, many of the walls are still standing, as is the main floor seen in the photo. I like to photograph both the exterior and interior of this structure. There is something compelling about the school with its missing roof and windows leaving the interior open to the sky, and this building makes me think about the lives of the people who lived here more than other buildings like the bank and railroad station.
I made this photograph in the early morning after photographing dawn light on the bank building and the distance Amargosa Valley and Mountains and, beyond that, Telescope Peak in Death Valley’s Panamint Range. The sun was still fairly low, providing the slanting light though the windows. If you look closely at the far windows you can make out some of the other buildings of Rhyolite.
This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
keywords: school, house, building, ruins, dilapidated, weathered, window, wall, brick, stucco, concrete, light, slant, floor, old, historic, ghost, town, abandoned, sky, blue, cloud, morning, sunrise, dawn, nevada, usa, mine, interior, rhyolite, crack, gravel, travel, scenic, stock, death valley, national park
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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