Tag Archives: stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Cloud Shadows and Fog

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Cloud Shadows and Fog
Cloud shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

Cloud Shadows and Fog. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud shadow on the surface of the Pacific Ocean off of Point Reyes National Seashore.

This is a rather subtle landscape or seascape photograph, perhaps to the point of minimalism. I made it on a foggy afternoon along the interior of Drakes Bay at the Point Reyes National Seashore. The fog had thinned a bit by this time, but it was obstinate enough that it had not lifted even in the afternoon. Some light was coming though the cloud deck but it was extremely diffused — though it had enough directionality and the fog enough luminosity to lay a subtle shadow across the water below a thicker line of clouds.

Days like this one are slow, quiet, and mysterious along the Pacific Coast. The scale of the landscape diminishes to some extend and the “clear to the horizon” views are gone, as is the dome of the sky. From high locations such as the one from which I made the photograph, even the sound of the surf is muted.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Green River Canyon

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Green River Canyon
A hazy evening overlooking the Green River Canyon as sunset.

Green River Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hazy evening overlooking the Green River Canyon at sunset.

The story of this photograph — and this version of the image — is a bit involved for the usual two-paragraph post, but here goes. The first part concerns the fact that this is not a new photograph, but that I created and shared in the past. However, as I looked at it during my pandemic project of reviewing old files, I began to feel that it could benefit from a bit of reinterpretation. The result is not radically different, but I like it a bit more. A slightly modified crop and a few other bits of post-processing revision provide a stronger sense of what I recall experiencing when I made the photograph.

And speaking of making the photograph, this is where I get to — yet again! — tell a story on myself. I made the photograph on the first day of my first-ever visit to this Utah national park and, as is my frequently practice, I entered this park having done essentially no prior research. My idea, at least most of the time, is that I don’t want to go to such places with too many preconceptions, preferring to go with my own personal response to the place. (Funny story: We passed a turn-off at one point to “Mesa Arch,” one of this things that every photographer must “capture” in this park. I had no idea it was there… and we kept driving.) So, we entered the park and drove up to the “island in the sky” mesa area and began poking around. Eventually we “discovered” a location with a spectacular panoramic view down into and across the magnificent canyon of the Green River. I later came to understand that perhaps I wasn’t the first person to visit this spot… to put in mildly.

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 and Amazon.

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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Towers, Windows, Mountains

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Towers, Windows, Mountains
Arches National Park towers and windows, backed by distant mountains in morning haze.

Towers, Windows, Mountains. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Arches National Park towers and windows, backed by distant mountains in morning haze.

The first time I visited Arches National Park, I was intentionally almost completely ignorant of the place. I had sort of connected it with Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire,” but only as a sort of vague background to the larger points of that book. I knew that so-called Delicate Arch was located in this par. But that was pretty much it. So the first time we drove into the place late one afternoon I was almost completely unprepared for the otherworldly quality of the impossible formation in the park.

I made this photograph a few days later, on a morning of oddly hazy atmosphere that muted the details for the landscape, simplifying it and bringing attention to the larger forms. While this is red rock country, that is barely visible in this light. The solitary pinnacle is silhouetted against a panorama of other-worldly towers and windows backed by the barely visible outline of the La Sal Mountains.

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 and Amazon.

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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.

Photographs: Nature

Redwood Forest Plants

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Redwood Forest Plants
Detail of plants growing on the redwood forest floor.

Redwood Forest Plants. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of plants growing on the redwood forest floor.

We are perhaps spoiled somewhat here in my part of California. We take redwood forests for granted — both the coastal trees and the sequoias found in a few areas of the Sierra. Because I’ve been around these trees almost all my life, I forget sometimes how remarkable they are. Ironically, it is frequently while traveling to other places where forest trees are not of such gigantic size that I realize how shocking their scale can be.

At the same time, familiarly helps me look past the trees themselves and see smaller things that might be overlooked by a person walking through these forests with neck craned upwards in marvel. There is actually a lot taking place right down on the ground, especially during the wet season. I made this photograph one march in redwoods just north of San Francisco.

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 and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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