Tag Archives: tracks

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Entering the Dunes

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Entering the Dunes
Footprints lead into the sand dune landscape.

Entering the Dunes. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Footprints lead into the sand dune landscape.

Most of our landscape photographs try to present the landscape without obvious human presence. I write “obvious” because it is hard to find any place where no human effects are present. Sometimes photographers are criticized for presenting the illusion that this isn’t so. While I think the point is important, the criticism is unwarranted and based on its own untenable notion of what wilderness is. In any case, the inclusion of a more overt human element in photographs can encourage us to think of these places in a different way.

We often strive to photograph dunes after sand storms, when footprints have been erased. But including such things can also engage us in the landscape in useful ways — if nothing else they urge viewers to imagine themselves in these places. The footprints here are somewhat subtle, but I think that we relate to the scene differently when we see a line of footprints leading into 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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Sand Patterns

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Sand Patterns
Varied sand patteres on a fold in dunes at Death Valley National Park.

Sand Patterns. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Varied sand patterns on a fold in dunes at Death Valley National Park.

One of the myths about sand dunes is that their features are in motion, being blown across the landscape by winds. The fact that so many features — ripples, waves — remind us of water reinforces the illusion. But here the fluidity is of a largely static sort, and these features tend to remain in much the same place over long periods of time.

The reasons that dunes come into existence begin to be obvious when ou get to know them. They tend to be in windy places where natural features obstruct, divert, and slow the winds, causing them to drop their load of airborne dust and sand. While these broad features are easy to understand, I remain mystified by the smaller scale features like those seen in this “intimate landscape” photograph — the waves, ridges, valleys, drop-offs that also tend to remain fixed.

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 | 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: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Abandoned Loading Dock

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Abandoned Loading Dock
Railroad tracks and a weather protection structure above an old loading dock, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Abandoned Loading Dock. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. March 11, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Railroad tracks and a weather protection structure above an old loading dock, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

This is another very still and quiet image from my recent evening photographing the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard. Image walking alone in the darkness among these old (mostly) abandoned ship yard buildings: shops, warehouses, towers. Occasionally a lone car drives past, momentarily raising my level of alertness. It is mostly silent except for a sound of distant traffic across the water in Vallejo. The air is typically cold and damp, and on this night a bit of a breeze blows. The photographs are visual images, but they also evoke, for me, a whole series of associations, memories, and sensations associated with the place the experience of making the photographs.

There is always a question of just how to treat luminosity and color with these nighttime subjects. The fact of the matter is that many of these scenes are barely visible to the human eye, and details are shrouded in darkness. In this low light color is mostly desaturated, only becoming visible afterwards in the photograph. And much of the color is not the true color of the objects, but rather is the color of the light that illuminates them — and it can range from yellow to reddish, but white or even blue-green. The concept of accurate rendering becomes moot, since an “accurate” photograph (if “accurate” means “what it looked like”) would be almost colorless and nearly pitch black. Instead I take this as an opportunity to capture “what the camera sees” and use that as the raw material for what must be an interpretation of the captured light — almost inevitably brighter and more colorful than the original, but still trying to evoke that mysterious and quiet nocturnal quality.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Trains, Hudson Yards

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Trains, Hudson Yards
Trains on tracks leading toward buildings under construction at Hudson Yards

Trains, Hudson Yards. New York City, New York. December 28, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trains on tracks leading toward buildings under construction at Hudson Yards

We seem to have developed a habit of visiting Manhattan at slightly odd times of the year — usually either during the uncomfortably hot summer months or else in the dead of winter. (Between the two, my vote is for winter!) When we are there we spend as much time as possible out walking around, and I’m almost always carrying a camera — this city is an amazing source of opportunities for all kinds of photography.

On the final morning of our trip we took one last walk along the elevated High Line Park since we wanted to walk the new (to us, anyway) northern extension. The park affords wonderful elevated views, which means that there are clearer lines of sight to more distant features and that it is possible to get a kind of aerial view looking down into the closer landscape. Near the end of the park it takes a loop out toward the water to go around the old Hudson Yards, where many train lines converge on the eastern part of Manhattan. Today this is the site of a gigantic construction project, and as I understand it, the yard is going to eventually end up beneath the huge buildings.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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