Tag Archives: state

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Strait of Juan de Fuca, Evening

December 7, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light near Hurricane Ridge and over the Strait of Juan de Fuca

After shooting in the lowland rainforest earlier in the day, we planned to head up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in the evening, hoping for some interesting late day light. I’ve been “skunked” (frustrated by poor conditions!) on more than one occasion here, including one notable visit when the clouds reduced visibility to a distance that might have been measured in yards. An earlier web cam check and what we could now see from down below encouraged us to think that we might get something better this time, so into the park and up the road we went.

When we arrived the conditions were not quite stupendous, but they held the promise of becoming better, so we stuck around and photographed. Although it was mostly somewhat hazy and cloudy, every so often the sun would come through an opening in the clouds to the west, and the beams of light would move across the rugged landscape of the Olympic Mountains spread out in front of us – and on one occasion this light crossed through rain showers and produced a momentary rainbow. As things wound down – without there ever having been a real climactic moment of light – I decided to walk over to a low ridge from which there was a view to the north and the Strait of Juan De Fuca, with Canadian territory beyond. Again, the atmosphere was murky, though there were potentially interesting clouds about. I made this photograph near the very end of the day when a bit of filtered though direct light swept across the foreground ridge.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Shirt Pedestrians, Linear Landscape

November 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Two pedestrians in blue shirts walk past architecture emphasizing vertical and horizontal lines

A photograph like this is a bit hard to explain, but I’ll try. At least a little bit. As is often the case, for some reason this structure – a parking lot – caught my attention. I like the texture of concrete when doing city photography, and this landscape of lines seemed a bit striking, and in fact it got me thinking again about the very linear nature of much of the urban environment. Aside from a few things – the green tree, the red card, and the people – essentially everything in this scene can be regarded as being a sum of horizontals and verticals, from the obvious vertical covering of the garage to the wires, to the street lanes and lane lines, to the sidewalk, and the rows of squares on the background building.

It occurs to me from time to time that there is something very unnatural about this, and it might even be a cause of the disconnect from the environment that can occur in such places. But as (pretty much) always, the constructed world is not perfectly linear. But still, to me, the two people walking along the sidewalk, whose blue attire also caught my attention, look very small and very passive relative to the constructed world they inhabit.

Photographs: Ghost Towns

Recent Photographs from Bodie

November 9, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Almost a month ago we spent a few hours in the historic ghost town of Bodie, California on the final day of a trip to the eastern Sierra to photograph fall colors. On this day we decided to focus on a few other things, including a looping drive out to the east of the Sierra, followed by a side trip to Bodie, which came up when it looked like the weather conditions out there might be somewhat more interesting than usual.

Rather than save these up for a week’s worth of individual post, I have decided to combine them into a single post. (I have too many photographs queued up for future posts already.) I am presenting them in roughly the order that I shot them as we wandered around in Bodie. For those who may be unfamiliar with Bodie, it was the site of silver and gold mining many decades ago. There are stories of it being a fairly populous place with many “modern” amenities – but also of it being a rather rough place, which isn’t surprising given its remote location and the fact that it was a mining town. The mines gave out and the citizens gradually moved away, leaving the town almost completely abandoned. A few decades ago it was taken over by the California State Park System and it is now a state historical park that focuses on protecting and maintaining the place and making it available to visitors.

Weathered wooden walls and windows, Bodie, California

I passed this building or group of buildings on my way into the town. I have photographed this structure and, in fact, this section of the structure before. Exposed to the harsh summer and winter conditions of this high desert location, it is no surprise that the wood has been severely weathered.

The Standard Mill in the ghost town of Bodie, California

The Standard Mill is a large facility for refining ore, located across the town from the place where most of us begin our walks. To my eyes, it reminds me a lot of certain other mid-century industrial sites where I have photographed. Unfortunately – for me, but perhaps fortunately for other reason – fences surround the site and it is not possible to easily get inside and wander about without a guide. For that reason all of my photographs of the mill are from some distance.

The corrugated metal exterior of the abandoned Standard Mill, Bodie, California

This is a closer photograph of the buildings of the Standard Mill, whose angles, structure, and supporting wires fascinated me.

Bodie - Buildings Near Standard Mill — Bodie – Buildings Near Standard Mill

Old abandoned buildings line the streets of the ghost town of Bodie, California

These are among a number of buildings along the street heading to the entrance to the Standard Mill. The view here looks back across the valley in which the ghost town is located, toward higher hills, a small aspen grove, and cloud-shrouded peaks.

Windows on the front of an abandoned wooden building in the ghost town of Bodie reflect the cloud-filled sky

The squared geometry of the front of this building first caught my, along with the typical weathered condition of the wooden door, window frames, and paneling. The window reflects a distorted and blurred version of the cloud-filled sky, and underneath are hints of what is inside the windows.

The schoolhouse in the ghost town of Bodie, California

This is the view I first had of the schoolhouse, before I realized that it was, in fact, the school. The tall steeple first had me thinking it was perhaps a church. From this side, the building is backed by nothing but the open space of the high desert, highlighting the desolation of the place.

Downtown Bodie ghost town, with barren hills rising beyond

The foreground structure is the same schoolhouse building seen in the previous photograph. Here the perspective looks over the back of the school and across the buildings of the main street leading toward the mill, which is behind my camera position.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Chimneys and Building Details, Standard Mill

October 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Details of buildings and chimneys at the Standard Mill, Bodie ghost town, California

On the final day of our October eastern Sierra visit we covered a lot of ground, starting with dawn virga and light snow near Mammoth Lakes before heading east into the high desert toward the Nevada border and then north by back roads past Mono Lake to Lee Vining, where we finally stopped for a very late breakfast. We headed north from Lee Vining, first stopping to photograph aspens near Conway Summit, and the snow that was still falling above along the Sierra crest. With this “interesting” weather still around, it seemed like it might be worth a trip out to Bodie.

I’ve been to Bodie a number of times, and while the historical story is fascinating and the presence of such a large abandoned town is remarkable, I have sometimes been frustrated by the stark and cloudless skies and the realization that the place has been photographed so darned much! But a number of years ago I made it out there on a spring day when there was light snow falling, and I realized that in the right conditions it is still well worth a visit. Since there was a possibility of similar weather this time – though snow did not fall after we arrived – and since it was the off-season, the drive seemed worth it. And it was. Along the way we saw high desert aspen groves, which have a very different appearance than those of the eastern Sierra. The weather gave us a combination of blue skies, partial clouds, and occasional mists covering hill tops – and all of this was constantly changing as the clouds thickened and thinned. As I have walked around Bodie in the past I have been fascinated by the large Standard Mill that sits across the Valley. Since it is fenced off and access isn’t permitted without a guide, I was not able to walk among the buildings… but I was able to get close enough to make some photographs of the interesting juxtapositions of stark metal walls, windows, and chimneys.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: state

Strait of Juan de Fuca, Evening

Blue Shirt Pedestrians, Linear Landscape

Recent Photographs from Bodie

Chimneys and Building Details, Standard Mill

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