Tag Archives: soft

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Quiet Forest

June 11, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A quiet, Northern California old-growth redwood forest

I had heard rumors of rhododendrons along a trail at this location, so I went there late one afternoon when I figured that the light might be a bit muted by incoming fog and high clouds. I parked and started the short walk along a shallow ridge through the forest and then descended a bit into a small canyon. There were rhododendron blossoms, though I was apparently just a bit too early for their peak.

I and other photographers often look for special light when photographing the redwood forest. There are many types, for example the glowing light that is sometimes found in thinning fog, or the warm light early and late in the day when filtered sunlight makes its way into the groves. In some ways, the light in this photograph is probably a bit more typical. There was a gentle glow coming from cloudy skies to the west, and most of it was blocked by the thick canopy of trees. Because it was neither the morning nor evening golden hour, the light is softer and more subtle… and perhaps more reflective of the quiet and stillness of these places.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Stairway

May 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A blue stairway in a softly lit alcove

In contrast to much of what I have recently shared, this photograph is not a landscape. Or perhaps it is. OK, it is. I think of photographs like this, at least to some extent, as being “urban landscapes.” In many ways (but not all) I see them in ways that are similar to how I see landscape. I’m looking for form and composition, color, effects of light, some sense of the feeling of the place, and often a quality of stillness. I also think that these photographs, like some of my personal favorite landscape photographs, attempt to look at a familiar place in an unfamiliar way. For example, there is almost nothing in this photograph to tell you that it was made in San Francisco, not far at all from some rather iconic views.

Despite the similarities to my landscape photography, there are also some obvious differences. The distinctly non-natural subject is one obvious clue. Perhaps less obvious is that these photographs are not made in the usual natural landscape manner, relying on tripods, remote releases, and sometimes plenty of time to think and consider. Instead, these are virtually always shot handheld with a small camera. I’m generally on the move when I photograph these subjects, typically pausing only long enough to frame and trip the shutter, and then I continue along. In fact, I barely broke my stride as I passed this scene and made this photograph.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Scrim, Bars, Shadows

February 11, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter tree branches cast soft shadows on scrim window covering

I was tempted to write little or nothing about this photograph and just let it stand as is. But that would break with my tradition of posting something about every photograph! (Apologies to those of you who aren’t fans of the writing! ;-) The subject is the conjunction of a shadow and the bars of a window.

The photograph illustrates, perhaps, the usefulness of bringing a camera along even in situations where photography isn’t your main goal. We were in New York for a week in late December, and on this freezing cold winter day we did what so many do on such days — we headed for the warmth of a museum, in this case the Metropolitan Museum. Our primary goal was to see the large David Hockney show, but there were other things to see as well. At one point, while considering what to do next, we ended up in a familiar gallery off in the distant reaches of this large and confusing museum. At one end of the room was a stairwell. Southwest facing windows were covered with a sort of scrim that muted the direct light, and winter-bare tree branches cast shadows on it.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Desert Mountains, Evening Light And Haze

April 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Soft light and haze in the evening high in the Panamint Mountain Range, Death Valley National Park

From a high point along the ridge of the Panamint Mountains, there are stupendous views in all directions — north and south along the spine of the range, east into Death Valley and on to Black Mountains and beyond, west across the lower Panamint hills as they drop toward the Panamint Valley only to rise again and eventually culminate in the Sierra Nevada crest. Early and late in the day the low angle light sweeps across the terrain and reveals large and small features of the landscape.

On this evening it was quite hazy, probably because high winds had whipped up sandstorms in lower elevation areas. This dust filled atmosphere can seem to glow from within when back-lit, and as I pointed my camera down toward these western slopes I began to see that luminescence. In a way there is nothing special in this photograph — a nearby ridge, and intervening valley, and more ridges in the distance. But the further ridge is still in the warm-colored, evening light, whose color contrasts with the cooler blue tones of the shadowed ridges.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: soft

Quiet Forest

Blue Stairway

Scrim, Bars, Shadows

Desert Mountains, Evening Light And Haze

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.