Tag Archives: usa

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

Coastal Rocks

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Coastal Rocks
Rugged and fractured rocks on the California Pacific Ocean coast.

Coastal Rocks. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Rugged and fractured rocks on the California Pacific Ocean coast.

If you have been following along recent youly have likely figured out by now that I was fascinated by this formation at Point Lobos State Reserve. In fact, I was so fascinated by it that I not only turned my attention away from the larger landscape, but I ended up photographing this these rocks from three different angles and positions.

I got up close for this version, setting up the camera just in front of the subject and angling the camera slightly upwards. I found the large patterns of fractured rock interesting, but I also liked some of the smaller features that require a closer look — the odd dimpling effect on the surface of the rock, the bits and pieces of ocean life, and so on. The soft light coming through a deck of coastal clouds helped reveal some of these details.

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

West Coast Rebar Company

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West Coast Rebar Company
The “West Coast Rebar Company” building, San Jose

West Coast Rebar Company. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The “West Coast Rebar Company” building, San Jose

This photograph probably makes this subject look a bit nicer than it is in reality. It is an old industrial building in an area of such things, these days mostly occupied by auto body repair shops and similar. I’m not at all certain that it is still an actual rebar company — for example, it appears that parts of the facility now house gigantic pots containing young trees.

I have walked past this place many times. (In fact, I’ve known the small street on which it is located for decades.) I’ve also thought about photographing it many times. I’m intrigued by these old metal shop buildings, a type that used to be very common around here and, I would imagine, elsewhere in the country. I see them in older towns and in older areas of more modern communities here in Silicon Valley, but they are gradually being replaced by fancy new office buildings and urban housing developments.

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

Ridges and Shadows

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Ridges and Shadows
Morning light creates stark contrasts between ridges and shadows on Death Valley badlands landscape.

Ridges and Shadows. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light creates stark contrasts between ridges and shadows on Death Valley badlands landscape.

Believe it or not, I’m still not quite done with this year’s Death Valley photographs. I’ve been sitting on this one for a week or two, pondering several things about it, but now I think I’m done with it. It may be the final one from this year’s very productive visits to the park. We’ll see! (Looking ahead, there’s a good chance that a year from now I’ll review the files and find at least one more.)

This is perhaps the place to again mention the typical cycle I go through when I return with photographs from a location. I open up the collection, and a few typically jump out at me immediately. These will not necessarily be “the best” of the group, but they are photographs that are fairly straightforward to process and work more or less as I expected when I exposed them. Then I go back through the files and begin to work on likely prospects that will require more thought. (Often the best work comes from this pass.) But this isn’t the end of it, and next I look again, this time trying to see the work with a different perspective. Here I often “discover” how to “see” photographs that did not initially seem like they would work. Finally (or maybe not?) I make one more serious traverse of the work to see what I might have missed. And with that — at least until I come back to the files in a year or so — it is on to new projects!

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

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

Patterns in Rock

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Patterns in Rock
Complex patterns in rocks along the California coast.

Patterns in Rock. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Complex patterns in rocks along the California coast.

If you are hoping for a scientific explanation of what you are seeing in this photograph, I’m not qualified to provide it. I’ve visited this little area of small geographic wonders at Point Lobos for decades, and much of it remains a mystery to me. I know bits and pieces of information, but far from the whole story.

I find something new every time I visit this spot, even after all of these years. This little vignette impresses me with its variety of features. The underlying rock seems to be some kind of sandstone, in vertically oriented layers that must have been uplifted and distorted at some point. Other rocks are embedded in it, and in this spot there is this odd bit of angular patterns.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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