Tag Archives: tall

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

Woman in Central Park

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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.

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

Hillside Aspen Grove

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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.

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

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn

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Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn
A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Tall Aspen Grove, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small group of tall aspens with long, white trunks and colorful autumn foliage, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph is yet another example of the variety of colors during the Sierra Nevada autumn aspen transition. There’s still a bit of green, a lot of brilliant yellow, and highlights of red and orange here and there. Earlier in the season the predominant colors tend to be the yellows set against the greens. But by the second half of the month much (though not quite all) of the green is gone, and the more characteristic autumn colors clearly dominate.

This photograph is also another example of the value of long lenses for landscape photography. I use everything from 16mm to 400mm and sometimes longer for landscape. The long lenses let me photograph subject that are simply not accessible. They allow me to work at a distance from an elevated perspective that isn’t available closer to the subject. They are useful for narrowing down the scope of a composition and eliminating distractions. All of those were in play when I made this photograph.

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.

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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

Tall Autumn Aspen Trees

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Tall Autumn Aspen Trees
Tall aspen trees with long, white trunks on an Eastern Sierra Nevada hillside.

Tall Autumn Aspen Trees. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Tall aspen trees with long, white trunks on an Eastern Sierra Nevada hillside.

The large grove of which these trees are a part is one that I’ve photographed for a long time. For the Sierra, it is a very large expanse of aspens, and they rise from a valley up the lower slopes of rock-strewn mountains. Most of then I have photographed them earlier in the season where the more colorful trees are mixed in with trees that are still green. But this time I visited later in October, and virtually the entire hillside was yellow, gold, and red. Note also the tall and straight aspen trunks — many Sierra aspens are much shorter.

I photographed these trees, as I often do, in soft, shaded light. The sun had not risen above the ridge behind them, so there were still fully in shadow — though the sunny edge of that shadow was rapidly approaching as I worked! Photographing aspens in these conditions reveals the difference between our own visual perception and what the camera “sees.” Looking at the scene you would say you saw colorful aspen leaves and white or gray trunks. But a photograph made in these conditions renders the trunks intensely blue. So the photographer faces a quandary for which there are several possible answers. One is to “go with the blue,” with the risk that viewers will be struck by what seems like unnaturally intense blue tones. Another is to shift the yellow/blue balance in post to produce something that better approximates the experience of looking directly at the trees.

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.

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