Tag Archives: travel

Window And Shadows

Window And Shadows
“Window And Shadows” — Afternoon light forms shadows behind a window at the Whitney Museum, New York City

This photograph was made near a window on one of the upper floors of the New Whitney Museum in Manhattan. At the west end of the upper floors, near the end of the main corridors outside the gallery, there are small windows that overlook the Hudson River and New Jersey in the distance. At some point on every visit to the Whitney I find myself standing next to one of these windows overlooking this view and trying to make photographs. (I have my rituals — I also go out onto the various terraces and platforms outside the east side of the building and photograph Manhattan and people.)

I don’t think it is a secret that I’m attracted to patterns and shapes, and the angles of shadows cast by light coming through windows often interests me. I only partly see a subject like this as what it objectively is — I’m more likely to think of it simply as light and shadow and texture and shape.

TWO


Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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.

Two Domes, Evening

Two Domes, Evening
Evening light on granite domes, meadows, and forest, Yosemite National Park

Two Domes, Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. July 26, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on granite domes, meadows, and forest, Yosemite National Park

As always when staying in and around Tuolumne Meadows — though this time I had to drive in from a more distant campground — I was out in the meadows as evening approached. The campground was still closed due to late-melting winter snows, so there were even fewer than usual people out enjoying the late-day light and benign clouds floating overhead.

As I walked through the meadow I enjoyed the constantly changing landscape and patterns of clouds and sunlight moved across the forest, meadow, and mountains. From moment to moment the light changed significantly enough to almost create new landscapes. At the moment of this photograph the main subject was actually darkened a bit by the shadow of a passing cloud — perhaps giving it a more ominous appearance — but the light was bright on the smaller, more distant dome and on the meadow and forest at the base of the dome.


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 | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Pier, Low Tide

Pier, Low Tide
A pier extends across tidal flats at the edge of Tomales Bay, Inverness, California

Pier, Low Tide. Inverness, California. July 23, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pier extends across tidal flats at the edge of Tomales Bay, Inverness, California

In late July I took a day to visit Point Reyes. My main goal was a long hike over the barren bluffs above Drakes Estero, with my plan being to follow a route all the way to the coast at Drakes Bay, hopefully arriving at just about the time the fog cleared. It was a wonderful hike, with some clearing early on, but ultimately it never did clear at the coast. On a day when merely a few miles inland the temperatures rose into the 90 degree range, here in the fog and wind it never got out of the fifties, and it was almost like enjoying a winter day in July.

Before I began my hike I drove along the shore of long, narrow Tomales Bay, where the road mostly travels right along the shoreline, often only feet from the water. This bay is very sheltered, with a narrow entrance and then a long distance from there to its inner reaches. At the upper end the tides regularly turn the bay into a mudflat. I always am on the lookout for photographs as I drive this route, and as I passed this spot I caught a glimpse of the stark backlight and the brilliant reflections on the mudflat — so I turned around and headed back to make a few pictures of this pier and the building out over the way.


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 | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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

Whalers Cabin, Point Lobos

Whalers Cabin, Point Lobos
Hidden behind a grove of trees, the Whalers Cabin sits on a bluff above Whalers Cove at Point Lobos

Whalers Cabin, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. July 18, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hidden behind a grove of trees, the Whalers Cabin sits on a bluff above Whalers Cove at Point Lobos

For may years I have visiting Point Lobos, the increasingly popular (and sometimes over-run) California coastal reserve along the Pacific Coast just south of Carmel. Decades ago my family visited when I was a child — I recall picnicking there, but most of all I remember exploring the tide pools and descending a steep old trail to a small beach that is now closed. While I knew limited areas of the reserve very well, there were other sections that I simply never visited: some of the forest trails, a few areas close to Monastery Beach and others.

One of the places that, oddly, I never visited was the little “Whalers Cabin” set back on the bluff above Whalers Cove, a sheltered and often placid bay that is protected from the surf of the open ocean. I visited the cove, and I’ve photographed there in the past, but I always went right past the cabin without stopping. This summer I finally stopped in and looked around a bit. As I understand it, whalers may have used the place, but so did fisherman. Today it is a small museum, and (as far as I know) the only very old historic structure still remaining in the park.


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 | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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