Tag Archives: tall

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak

Image Leave a comment
Winter Haze, Dormant Oak
A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

On a Christmas Eve when large sections of the country are freezing and dealing with blizzard conditions, it might seem almost cruel to share this Christmas Eve Day photograph from here in the San Francisco Bay Area, made on a brief hike in our local hills earlier today. In fact, I was wearing short sleeves. On the other hand, perhaps some of you would like to be distracted by a scene from a warmer, drier place?

This scene, odd as it may seem to people who aren’t from here, is typical of winter in this part of the West. The trees lose their leaves, though later than in other parts of the country, but then winter grasses begin to grow. The period from now through the next four or five months is our green season. Today the atmosphere was hazy, and the backlight made it luminous.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Sierra Rain

Image Leave a comment
Trees, Sierra Rain
Trees and afternoon rain in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

Trees, Sierra Rain. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Trees and afternoon rain in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

Photography in the rain is a challenge. Concerns range from small things (drops of water on the lens) to potential catastrophe (water damaging the electronics), with a range of intermediate issues, not the least of which is the photographer’s comfort! The challenges are compounded in the backcountry, where staying warm and relatively dry are both challenging and critical. There’s no warm car or motel room to retreat to!

After being mostly stuck in our tents during 24 hours or rainy weather, a few brief breaks were enough to coax us outside for photography and, also important, to stretch our legs. Since the rain hadn’t really stopped, I carried my backup camera and no tripod so that I could more easily deal with the inevitable showers. Speaking which, I made this photograph in the middle of one of them, managing to make a short series of photographs of these noble and tall trees growing out of a rocky rise.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman in Central Park

Image Leave a comment
Woman in Central Park
A women stands on a brick square in Central Park.

Woman in Central Park. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A women stands on a brick square in Central Park.

As we walked through a busy section of Central Park on an October morning, I saw this woman walk through this square alone, pause as if taking stock of the surroundings, then eventually move on. Originally, the bright pink color of her outfit caught my attention, along with something about her demeanor, but I sacrificed that color for this monochrome rendering of the scene — since I like the way that a black and white image translates that color to almost white.

This is one of those photographs that asks more questions than it answers. I cannot tell you “what it means,” or even quite explain why it works for me. I think that there is something a bit noble about her, something about her standing apart from the rest of the crown in the park, but also something more than a bit uncomfortable about the image. and her place in it.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Hillside Aspen Grove

Image Leave a comment
Hillside Aspen Grove
Tall aspens in peak fall color growing on an Eastern Sierra hillside.

Hillside Aspen Grove. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Tall aspens in peak fall color growing on an Eastern Sierra hillside.

You may wonder if this stream of autumn color photographs will ever end. While this year’s aspen photographs will likely conclude soon, here in Central and Northern California there will still be other kinds of “fall” color into the new year! So don’t be surprised if this is a continuing thread right on into 2023. By then the trees will not be aspens — we will see maples, cottonwoods, and various other hardwoods from the urban environment, the nearby hills, and from California’s Central Valley.

This photograph features a grove I visit every year, thinking there’s not a lot left to do with the subject. But then, inevitably, I find a way to photograph it and it ends up as one of my subjects again the following year. This year I have a somewhat different explanation, as my third-week-of-October visit was later than usual for me. It turned out that conditions this year favored later aspen color in the Eastern Sierra. Consequently, this grove had some of the most striking color that I have seen in this spot, even though I was a good week later than usual.

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 | Twitter | 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. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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