Tag Archives: summer

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clearing Storm, Evening

Image July 23, 2022 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Summer thunder storm clouds clear at sunset above the Sierra Nevada crest, Yosemite National Park.

Photographic prospects seem to be distributed across a sort of bell curve. Most of the time the opportunities are fine and interesting, and it is possible to make decent photographs from what you find. Occasionally I find myself at one of the sharp ends of the curve. When at the end where nothing much seems to be happening, I remind myself that I’m storing up karma for those moments when the opposite happens. And if you are out there enough, these unbelievable moments will happen from time to time — and they are enough to keep you coming back.

This was a truly memorable evening that provided an embarrassment of visual riches. Soon after this trip, I came up with a series of four photographs in landscape orientation that traced the astonishing evolution of the light from late afternoon through dusk. Four seemed like plenty at the time, so I left the rest behind — some of which would normally have been keepers. This is one of those, made when I briefly shifted the camera to portrait orientation.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Zeum, Architectural Detail

Image July 20, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A San Francisco view from the Zeum on a blue sky day.

Recently I have leaned on a Minor White quote more than once: “One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.” I’ve always taken this to be about photography’s burden of “capturing the real world,” how limiting that goal may be, and how photographs can be seen in other ways. It is almost always worth asking about a photograph, “Beyond what this is, what is it?”

This is, obviously, a photograph of a bit of architecture in San Francisco, a place called “The Zeum.” I’ve wandered through it many times while on San Francisco photography walks. An incomplete list of the “what else it is” in this photograph could include some of the following. It is about color and light and shadow. It is about perspective and angles and lines. It is about that sky and that single cloud. Perhaps you can think of other things?

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Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Four Frames

Image July 16, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Reflections, San Francisco

For me, one result of carrying a camera around is that I often realize that things we barely notice often turn out to be unbelievably strange. Urban buildings can take on an entirely different look if you start to pay attention to the reflections in their windows — the abstract patterns of shapes and colors, the hallucinogenic distortions, and the bizarre juxtapositions. This is yet another example of seeing things for “what else they are.”

I think that writing too much about the background of this photo risks ruining its effect — so I won’t. I will say that it contains quite a few of the “juxtapositions” I mentioned above. Refusing to give in to temptation, that’s all I’m going to say!

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

South Beach Harbor, Morning

Image July 15, 2022 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sailboats docked at San Francisco’s South Beach Harbor on a foggy summer morning.

On occasion I gloat about how fortunate we are to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. (It isn’t perfect, but still…) One of the pluses is proximity to San Francisco, itself. By the “baby bullet train” or by car I can be there in about an hour, at least outside of rush hour. I’ve long enjoyed taking the train up there and then wandering through the city and photographing. I vary my walking routes, but I almost always begin by heading toward the waterfront and past this harbor, where boats lie quietly at anchor in the morning.

Summer in San Francisco (as many tourists discover too late) is not generally a warm and sunny time. Fog is common, especially in the morning, and being surrounded on three sides by water the place can be windy and cool. But all of this produces special atmosphere and light. Here I’m looking past the boats and toward the other side of the Bay, where morning sunlight begins to thin the fog.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: summer

Clearing Storm, Evening

Zeum, Architectural Detail

Four Frames

South Beach Harbor, Morning

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