It was a magical day on the far west cost of Scotland just above the Isle of Skye. We were on a long drive from Ullapool, and had just turned south along the shoreline towards the village of Applecross, which was going to be the far point of the day’s adventure. In a bit of a change from earlier weather, the sun was trying to make an appearance — and mostly succeeding, though there was an offshore rain shower between us and Skye.
Continue reading Skye, Rain Over the Inner Sound
I photographed this subject back in July on a long walk that took me to an area that is being redeveloped — or at least that is the story. The city (of San Jose) granted some extraordinary benefits to a very large corporation that promised to build a new campus in a somewhat blighted area. Hopes were high for renewal, but then the pandemic arrived, plans were delayed, and now no one knows when (or if) the plans will move forward. So, in the meantime, it seems that this corporation has decided to apply new paint to old buildings.
Continue reading Blue Feet
Tile and Concrete Wall. San Francisco, California. July 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A weathered tile and concrete wall at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.
I’ll throw things a bit off-kilter here and interrupt the stream of landscape images from the Sierra Nevada with a minimalist photograph of a tile wall that I made while walking around in San Francisco in July. This may not be quite as simple a photograph as it first appears, and in larger version or print it becomes more apparent that the tiles are varied and weathered in interesting ways that produce a range of textures and colors.
I do a certain number of “minimalist” photographs – some of the urban landscape and others of the natural landscape and seascapes. Sometimes when I’m photographing some of the urban subjects I get some very strange looks from passers-by! I guess it must be hard to imagine why some guy with a fancy camera is pointing it straight at a wall in downtown San Francisco when so many other seemingly more compelling subjects are all around. Or else they might wonder if there is something there that they just don’t see.
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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Winter Shadows on Tiles. San Jose, California. January 20, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
The shadow of a winter tree falls on a tile wall in San Jose, California.
I was originally thinking of photographing redwoods yesterday, but instead I decided to save some gas and again photograph within walking distance of my home. (I may try the redwoods today – it seems like time to do some landscape photography again.) As I walked , the winter shadows of trees that appear nearly everywhere in the low angle mid winter light caught my attention and became the subject of perhaps half of the photographs I made. This is a very simple photo – simply the shadows of a nearby tree falling obliquely across some stone wall tiles.
On a slightly technical note, I took along a new lens, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 prime. I’ll have more to write about this lens in the blog before long, but for now I’ll say it is performing a bit beyond my expectations.
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: winter, season, shadow, tille, wall, grout, leaf, branch, tree, squares, pattern, geometric, swirl, rock, stone, yellow, red, abstract, nature, urban, street, willow glen, san jose, california, usa, stock