Tag Archives: south

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Plaza de España Entry

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Playa de España Entry
“Plaza
”Plaza de España Entry” — An entry to the Plaza de España, Sevilla.

Sevilla (or “Seville,” in English) is one of the most magical and pleasant cities we visited in Spain during the summer of 2023. We stayed in the old part of the town, not far from the Catedral de Sevilla, and our hotel was on a street barely wide enough for people to pass one another. There was so much to see nearby that we restricted our visit to places to which we could walk. And one of those walks took us to the Maria Luisa Park and the Plaza de España.

The Plaza de España features a large central plaza backed by an impressive curved building that was constructed for an International Exposition a century ago. The photograph is just inside an entrance near the south tower of the structure, and the forms and beautiful light spoke to my fascination with those subjects.

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.

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife, Post-processing Workflow

Pelicans, Winter Surf

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Pelcans, Winter Surf
“Pelicans, Winter Surf” — A quartet of brown pelicans flies above raging winter surf off the California coast below San Francisco.

During last week’s extremely big surf we headed right over to the coast to witness and photograph the conditions. Waves were up to 30′ tall and even higher, and a winter “King tide” sent those waves right up onto the shore in many places. You might have seen news reports of damage to some coastal areas. While staying safe, we were able to get pretty close to the action on a drive between Santa Cruz and Half Moon bay, and we made quite a few photographs.

Most of the photographs were essentially seascapes — the watery equivalent of landscape images, featuring the shapes and colors and so on of the moving water. But as I made a series of photographs of this huge wave a line of pelicans flew through the frame, passing just above the raging surf.

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.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Leaves, Creek

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Autumn Leaves, Creek
Trees and bushes with autumn leaves line the banks of an Eastern Sierra Nevada creek.

Autumn Leaves, Creek. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Trees and bushes with autumn leaves line the banks of an Eastern Sierra Nevada creek.

This is another of the “how in the world did I pass by here and never stop to photograph this” images. I’m sure that I have passed this spot scores of times and simply not noticed it… until I just happened to look this direction last week while on my way to something else. I made a mental note, stopped here on my return, and then ended up photographing this spot several times over a two-day period. In truth, part of what I enjoy about returning to photograph familiar places is the inevitable “discovery” of things that have been there all along!

In most years this spot would have been past its prime for autumn colors on the date I visited. It is more typically at its peak several days earlier. But this year in the eastern Sierra felt a bit different. I’m still pondering why it happened but it seemed like the higher elevation trees may have changed a little bit later than usual (or at least retained their colors a bit longer) while lower elevation groves are transitioning on more of a typical schedule. As a result during the second week of October I found color from the highest to the lowest locations — and that’s not typical.

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.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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California Fall Color, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Grove, Evening

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Autumn Grove
Autumn in a quiet evening aspen grove in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Autumn Grove. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn in a quiet evening aspen grove in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

It is easy to focus on the largest and most impressive elements of the Sierra Nevada landscape — I know that I often do. The range is full of rugged peaks, deep valleys, forests draped across miles of terrain, and more. But eventually, if you spend enough time in this landscape, it becomes apparent that there are things to see (and photograph) almost everywhere… and not just in the iconic places. If you asked me where this photograph was made, I could tell you the precise location — but why? There are countless equivalent scenes all over the range!

The photograph illustrates another principle of photographing such subjects: sometimes “bad light” is actually good light. I made the photograph after the sun had set behind the surrounding tall mountains, as the day’s light was quickly fading. But I love photographing trees — especially autumn aspen trees — in this marginal and soft light. The harsh highlights and shadows are gone and gentle light suffuses the scene.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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