Tag Archives: stone

Two Aspen Trees and Cliff

Two Aspen Trees and Cliff
Two autumn aspen trees against the rocky face of an Eastern Sierra Nevada cliff.

Two Aspen Trees and Cliff. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.– all rights reserved.

Two autumn aspen trees against the rocky face of an Eastern Sierra Nevada cliff.

This is another photograph that isn’t quite totally new. Some years ago I made several exposures of this little scene, with the two trees with fall color backed by the rocky cliff face. (To be sure, this was not the only time I photographed these trees — this is a favorite spot of mine in the right conditions.) But This one is just a bit different than the earlier one — a very slightly different position, I think, and a different crop, plus some refinement of how I approached the post processing.

I sort of wonder if it may be too early to start sharing fall color photographs. Ah, heck, no! Never too early for that! In fact, my mind is typically on at least three seasons at a time anyway. First, the season that just passed and from which I still have raw files to process. Second the current season because, well, that’s obvious, right? Third, one season beyond the current one — because I always have slightly longer term plans running in the back of my mind.


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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Boulder and Cascade

Boulder and Cascade
“Boulder and Cascade” — A subalpine brook cascades over rocks and past a small boulder.

No landscape photographer I know is quite able to completely resist the lure of photographing moving water cascading over rocks. I can imagine quite a few reasons for this. The miniature landscapes in Sierra creeks like this one hold an infinity of potential compositions. Unlike so much of the landscape, the water is in constant motion, to the point that one almost needs to make many exposures to get it just right. There are interesting technical questions to resolve, including just how much blur is the right amount.

Beyond all of that photographic stuff, these streams are just fun places to spend some time. Many years ago I still took fishing gear into the backcountry. I stopped once I realized that I didn’t need the excuse of fishing in order to justify time spend wandering up and down these creeks, with their attractions of wildflowers, green plants, and the constant sound of moving water.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Smile More

Smile More
A Manhattan street scene.

Smile More. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Manhattan street scene.

May I just say that I miss Manhattan? I really miss Mahattan. After a year of keeping my “social distance” from people, I would love nothing more than to be in the middle of a loud, busy, Manhattan street overcrowded with people, perhaps heading into some very small and crowded restaurant. We’re not there yet, but I’m starting to imagine a time when this will again be possible.

Oddly, this Manhattan photograph looks about as empty as one would expect during a pandemic, even though it was made on a normal New York day a few years ago. Perhaps it was the particular neighborhood or perhaps the time of day, but there was almost no one on the street when I made the photograph, aside from a young father who walked though the scene at one point with his child. “Smile more” says the sign.


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 | Flickr | FacebookEmail

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.

Salzburg Sisters

Salzburg Sisters
“Salzburg Sisters ” — Two women walking down a cobbled Salzburg street.

There’s a part of me that is tempted to jump over the large number of travel and street photography images that I’m coming across as I traverse my old raw file archive… and move to some of the more familiar scenes from the natural world. But I’m going to continue to (mostly) resist that temptation and double down on these subject a bit longer, at least until I make it through this archive of images from a multi-week European trip back in 2013.

We stayed in Bavaria with family for about a week, just across the border from Salzburg, which we visited on several occasions during our stay. I love narrow streets and figures that quickly appear and disappear, challenging my ability to quickly see and create a photograph. As these women walked ahead of us I had just enough time to bring the camera up to my eye and make three quick exposures as they headed into a very narrow cobbled street.


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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.