Tag Archives: soft

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest, Morning Fog

Image Leave a comment
Forest, Morning Fog
“Forest, Morning Fog” — Soft sunlight appears as morning fog begins to clear above a forested hillside, Santa Cruz Mountains.

One of my favorite kinds of light is found at “the edge of the light” —places that are neither in full sun nor fully shaded. Often I search out these spots, especially when fog is involved. The effect can range from subtle to quite striking when there are strong contrasts between deep shadow and light. Here there is an additional factor — not only are the foreground trees in a bit of that gentle light coming through the fog, but the more distant trees almost disappear into the thicker clouds.

We often hear something along the lines of, “photography is all about the light.” That’s not quite literally true in every case, but there’s no question that interesting light can turn an otherwise-mundane subject into something special. To be honest, this scene would not likely catch your attention at all in typical full sunlight nor in thicker fog — it is that glow on the foreground trees that makes it work.

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 | Post | 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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Forest, Fog, Soft Light

Image Leave a comment
Forest, Fog, Soft Light
“Forest, Fog, Soft Light” — Soft morning light filtered through coastal fog on a forested hillside near the California coast.

It isn’t news that California and the West have been suffering under an extreme and long-lasting heat wave. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it has been bad — though clearly it is much worse in other locations. This week I finally had enough, and I drove over the hills to the coast early in the morning to seek out fog. I found it! In fact, it was so thick on the coast (where the temperature was a blessed 55 degrees) that it interfered with my intended photography. So I followed side roads that took me inland to the edge of the fog, where soft light was starting to illuminate the landscape.

By most measures, this is a rather nondescript location. (I actually parked in from of a CalFire Station.) But across the small valley, trees led up the hillside, catching the soft light that was just barely penetrating the fog. There’s an additional detail here: A large wildfire swept through a few years back, denuding the landscape in many places. These trees at the bottom of the valley were spared, but you can see skeleton of dead trees on top of the ridge.

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 | Post | 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.

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

Fond Antico

Image Leave a comment
Fond Antico
“Fond Antico” — Diffused light on the shaded facades of buildings along a narrow Bologna street.

I photographed this bit of Bologna architecture on a “random walk” during our 2023 summer visit. In the morning we headed out with no particular destination in mind, just expecting to wander and see what we might discover. We had a vague plan to start near the two famous towers not far from the central piazza, and then we just kept going until we came to the edge of the old part of the town. We turned around and began to improvise a different route back.

I can’t tell you exactly where I made this photograph, since by this time we were following our instincts rather than a map. We changed directions as we saw interesting things, and our route was anything but direct. I was first intrigued by the arched doorways on this building, but the light also fascinated me. The combination of reddish earth tones and light reflected from other buildings on the narrow street reminds me of walking the narrow canyons of the American Southwest.

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 | Post | 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.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Lone Tree, Morning

Image Leave a comment
Lone Tree, Morning
“Lone Tree, Morning” — A solitary tree silhouetted against dawn sky on a foggy morning.

I traveled to California’s Central Valley back in late December, when I saw a weather report calling for thick fog. Now normal people would specifically NOT choose to go there on one of its infamous fog days, when the tule fog can make driving nearly impossible. But I wanted to photograph in those conditions, so I headed over a few hours before sunrise. The fog was extremely thick along the way, and I was looking forward to even “worse” conditions at my destination. But a mile before I got there the fog thinned, dawn light shone through, and high clouds were visible in the soft light.

At first I was disappointed. I had gone to a lot of trouble to be there for fog, and now the fog was dissipating! But it didn’t take long to notice the compensatory visual appeal of the thinner haze and how it glowed in the early light. I found a slightly higher view point, located a lonely tree on the horizon, and made a few photographs.

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 | Post | 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.