Tag Archives: trees

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Pines and Sandstone Cliff

January 26, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A sparse forest of pine trees in front of a towering sandstone cliff, Zion National Park

This could be one of those “don’t forget to look around” photographs – a reminder to look beyond the most obvious thing that you (and others) might have stopped for. The photograph is from Zion National Park, made on my late October visit when we passed through on the way to shoot further east in Utah. The specific location is a well-known automobile pull-out that features a large and impressive nearby geological feature, with signage around the parking lot mostly about that thing. And it is an interesting and worthy site, but one that I’ve struggled to see as a photograph. In fact, the whole area right near here has been a bit this way – a very interesting place where I’ve stopped a few times, but also one where I’ve had a difficult time seeing how to photograph the attractive features found here.

From this location, trees growing on a middle-distance rise can be seen. I’ve also looked at them before and wondered how or whether they could make a photograph. Those trees are the trees in this photograph. What seemed different this time was the result of interesting and changing lighting conditions. The light was coming from the side and a bit behind the trees, so it highlighted the branches and even created just a tiny bit of that glow that I often look for with this subject. In addition, there were broken clouds about, and they were being blown past fairly quickly by a brisk wind – so the light was in a constant state of change. One moment the trees were in a cloud shadow, and the next they were in sun. When they were in sun, the foreground and background might be in sun, too, or in shade, or even some combination of the two. I love these conditions since so many things are (fleetingly) possible with the light. My approach is to make some guesses about what might with the light, find a composition that I think will work, and then pay careful attention to what is happening. This photograph was exposed during a lucky instant when the clouds shaded the background sandstone cliff, and the slightly cloud-muted sun shone on the trees.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Davenport Bluffs, Sunset

January 15, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

The last light shines on coastal bluffs and Davenport, California

On this early December day I had gone off to try to join a G+ “photowalk” that was purportedly taking place that day. I was looking forward to going to a few favorite local photography locations and to meeting some people who I’ve only known online. But it was not to be! I ended up being delayed at home and couldn’t leave in time to meet the group at their first location, Henry Cowell Park. I went with Plan B and figured I would try to join up with them at lunch in Davenport. I got there and didn’t see anyone, so I figured that I was early and I drove up the coast a bit. I came back to Davenport and thought they might be in one of the two restaurants, so I picked one and went in for lunch… by myself. (I found out later that, yes, they were in the other restaurant a hundred yards south.) After lunch I went across the road to the parking area when I thought folks might meet up, but still no luck – though I did see a few photographers out on the nearby bluff. I headed out there and finally ran into a couple of people from the group… which had gone down to a nearby beach area to shoot.

Finding interesting stuff up here on the bluff, I decide to work the location I found myself in rather than heading off and looking for something else. While the location was interesting, the light was initially unpromising. However, I thought there was a chance that things might improve later so I walked around and began doing some shooting. At one point, I talked to some other photographers about the somewhat bland lighting conditions and pointed out that it seemed to me that there was at least a chance that we might get a bit of interesting light as the sun dropped to the horizon, when the light can sometimes shine in below the clouds and produce some brief but beautiful conditions. This prediction turned out to be right, and I made this photograph just as the show was beginning, and warm-tone light was starting to hit the bluffs, beaches, and water.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

January 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Ross’s geese take wing during the sunset fly-out, San Joaquin Valley, California

As happens often enough to make things interesting, the light at the end of this day of less-than-phenomenal light momentarily made up for some of the earlier “blah” light. It had been a good day of goose (and crane) chasing, but with few moments of sublime light so far. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since even when the light is not at its most astonishing out here, the air and the sound of the birds still makes it worthwhile, especially when a large flock of geese suddenly lifts off in unison or when the sound of cranes floats down as they coast overhead.

But still, we want that light! Just before sunset, as the hazy sky was already starting to dim, the last sun slanted in from the west at a low angle just as this flock of geese was beginning to fly out for the night. I made this photograph just a moment after the foreground group had taken to the air, but while other groups that had lifted off earlier were still visible beyond them as they departed over the grove of trees to the north.

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

Dawn, New Years Day 2013

January 5, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Dawn light above a San Joaquin Valley marsh on New Years Day, 2013

I didn’t manage to post a real New Years Day photo on New Years Day this year… since I was out and about well before dawn on that morning, thinking that it would be even more fun to greet the new year in the field than to just share a post about it! We were staying in the Sierra foothills and had enjoyed a wonderful New Years eve with friends in the area the evening before. Although we had planned to “call it a night” soon enough to turn in early in anticipation for a pre-5:00 a.m. wake-up call, it was after midnight when we finally got to bed.

We were up at 4:45 – yes, on New Years Day! – and out the door shortly after 5:15, and on our way out into the San Joaquin Valley, where a small group of us assembled at about 6:30 in the darkness. After sleepy “Happy New Year!” wishes we headed off into the first pre-dawn light to look for geese and cranes and other critters. Within a few minutes I stopped along the levee road by these trees to make my first real photograph of the new year as the first light began to turn high clouds over the Sierra a beautiful shade of pink.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: trees

Davenport Bluffs, Sunset

Ross’s Geese, Golden Hour Fly-Out

Dawn, New Years Day 2013

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.