Tag Archives: travel

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

Fractal Landscape

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Fractal Landscape, Death Valley National Park
“Fractal Landscape” — A Death Valley landscape of layers of eroded ridges.

This view has intrigued me for years. At one popular Death Valley National Park location, one comes upon it quickly and often briefly. Because it is the coda of visits to this area that has many other attractions, it is easy to overlook it. It is harder to photograph than it seems that it should be — there are some compositional challenges, and unless the light is right the scene can have very low contrast and tricky colors.

The variety of pattens and details in the scene is remarkable. The first four ridges are low and consist of soft, easily eroded material. The more distant ridge is far away, across an intervening valley, and its details are almost always muted by haze. The foreground formations are deeply eroded and cut by gullies — which might seem like an odd thing at first when you consider that you are in an extremely hot and arid desert.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel

Balcony Bridge, Winter

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Photo of Balcony Bridge, Central Park, in winter snow.
“Balcony Bridge, Winter” — A winter scene at Balcony Bridge in Central Park, Manhattan

I have photographed and walked across Balcony Bridge in Central Park frequently. It is near the edge of “The Lake” in a popular area of the park, and in warm weather it is common to see lots of people pausing on the bridge to enjoy the view and take pictures. But it had a very different feeling on this cold and snowy winter day.

It only snowed for a few hours on the late-December morning, but it was enough to cover the ground with an inch or two of white, transforming the appearance of the park. The snow and the mostly-barren trees presented a starker landscape, one that reminded me of some well-known Bruegel winter paintings.

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” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Churros Time

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Churros Time -- table with churros, a cup of chocolate, and coffee cups.
“Churros Time” — Churros, chocolate, and coffee, Madrid Spain.

Yes, this is at Madrid’s Chocolatería San Ginés, one of the better-known (and more touristy) churros shops. Even though it is located down a less-than-obvious side street, the place is often packed. They have come up to the challenge, with a unique (to me, anyway) method of taking orders and allocating tables. The churros and chocolate are the classic combo, with the coffee a nice accompaniment.

I am glad we visited this place, since it is an icon. But it isn’t my most favorite churros experience in Spain. That was in Zaragoza, where we heard that a particular place on an obscure back street is loved by locals. While Americans like us might expect this to be a morning thing, this place only opened at 4:00PM, and the locals were already lined up inside and at the outside walk-up window. And, even better, it seemed that no one spoke English, aside from a helpful customer who was willing to put her limited English to work helping a couple of confused Americans.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

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

Dunes and Desert Hills

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Dunes and Desert Hills, Death Valley
“Dunes and Desert Hills” — Early morning light on sand dunes and eroded desert hills, Death Valley.

Sand dunes were the primary attraction when I first visited Death Valley a couple of decades ago. They are visual icons of the place, and any new visitor would want to see them. For me, a person whose wilderness experience had been almost exclusively focused on the High Sierra, the dunes were exotic and new. Over time I discovered that there is a much more to this place, and the dunes are no longer at the top of my list of Death Valley destinations. Yet, I can’t let a trip go by without at least a brief visit.

This time my hour of dune photography was a prelude to other activities. I got up in darkness so that I could in position a half hour before sunrise. There is no denying that morning light in the dunes can be spectacular. After all these years, I’m still caught off guard by how quickly the dunes go from pre-dawn soft shadows to morning light and by the short period of extremely saturated colors right around sunrise. I photographed for perhaps 45 minutes, then hiked back to my car and headed to my real target for the day.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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