Tag Archives: usa

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Shoreline

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Autumn Shoreline
Autumn colors arrive along the shoreline of an Eastern Sierra lake

Autumn Shoreline. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors arrive along the shoreline of an Eastern Sierra lake

This photograph represents a bit of a step back from the more intense Sierra Nevada colors of some of my other fall color photographs. Here many of the colors are muted, and the light is soft. The upper trees have already lost their leaves — early, as a result of the drought — and the foreground plants lining the lakeside marsh have largely gone dormant. A few conifers and some sagebrush appear around the edges of the frame.

This lake in the Eastern Sierra is the location of some spectacular fall color, too. In fact, this photograph intentionally looks away from some peak colors that were occurring nearby on this morning. After photographing so much intense color for several weeks, I think I was enjoying the muted quality of autumn storm light as it began to rain and eventually rain on this beautiful and quiet October morning.

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: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Staircase, Window, and Shadows

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Staircase, Window, and Shadows
Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

Staircase, Window, and Shadows. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California. November 7, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from artificial light amplify the forms of a staircase at Mare Island.

I made this photograph in an area that was actually so dark that I could barely see the subject — a long exposure and a higher ISO made the photograph possible and allow the camera to see what I cannot. I could see well enough to know that there were some unusual and interesting shadow patterns, including the organic shaped shadows of nearby trees and the angular shadows duplicating the lines of the stairway railings.

With a dark subject like this the first challenge is to make a composition out of things I can barely see. The broad outlines are visible, but it was not easy to see details… and focusing can be a major issue. (I have a bag of tricks for this. One technique is to simply shine a brighter light into the scene and focus on the lit area. An alternative if the subject is further way is to place the light inside the frame, focus on it, and then remove it for the exposure.) This whole area was just a bit spooky. I got to it by ascending a dark stairway and then walking across what seemed like it may have been an abandoned parking terrace that was littered with construction (or destruction?) debris.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman at Crosswalk

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Woman at Crosswalk
A women waits alone at a cross walk for the light to change, San Francisco.

Woman at Crosswalk. San Francisco, California. September 5, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A women waits alone at a crosswalk for the light to change, San Francisco.

One thing that might surprise some folks about my street photograph is that I do not think that it is unrelated to my nature and landscape photography. I think that it all connects together as “photography,” whether the subject is a mountain or a building, a bird or a person. I also believe that photographing more than one type of subject — which some might regard as a dilution of vision — actually makes me better at seeing all kinds of subjects as photographs. Shooting street, where things often happen quite quickly and in the midst of a lot of visual stimuli, forces me to be “on” all the time, to see potential subjects quickly, to recognize things that work instinctively, and to look for juxtapositions. And photographing natural landscape subjects informs the way I see the urban landscape.

One obvious potential thread in urban photograph is the juxtaposition of individual figures against a constructed and sometimes massive and impersonal urban landscape. I often look for these “stages” and then watch for people to appear and populate them. This location can actually be a fairly busy street corner, but here I first found the massive stone building, then waited for the scene to clear with the exception of the solitary woman waiting for the light.

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

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

Fire Escape, Shadows

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Fire Escape, Shadows
Shadows from a fire escape fall across the front of a San Francisco building

Fire Escape, Shadows. San Francisco, California. September 5, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from a fire escape fall across the front of a San Francisco building

I made this photograph late in the day back in early September, on a street photography shoot with a group of like-minded folks in San Francisco. We met in the late afternoon, wandered about for a while in the beautiful late-day light, then broke for dinner before going back out to photograph after dark.

One one hand, you could probably find a similar scene in many other cities. On the other hand, it also evokes the architecture of San Francisco, where buildings are packed tightly together, often with seemingly little regard for their aesthetic appearance when viewed from the street — with the result being very utilitarian facades, often featuring metal gates, fire escapes, and sometimes a worn and weathered appearance. This street runs almost directly east-west, so late in the day the sunlight was falling across the front of the building at a low angle and casting strong shadows.

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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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