Tag Archives: usa

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

Round Valley, Autumn Snow

October 11, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sun shines on autumn-dry pastures and cottonwood trees in Round Valley as early autumn snow falls on Mount Tom

After a few early October days and nights photographing fall subjects in Bishop Canyon, on my final morning in camp I woke up to temperatures in the middle thirties and snow pellets, with the surround peaking shrouded in clouds that occasionally parted to reveal new snowfall. I got up, headed out to make a few photographs, and worked for a couple of hours before the storm arrived in earnest, with rain and snow up higher. At this point, photography was becoming a less attractive and even possible project, so it was time to bail out and start my long drive home. I stopped in the town of Bishop long enough to get coffee and breakfast, and then I was off on what would be a rather long drive home — multiple trans-Sierra passes having been closed by the storm.

My plan was to move along efficiently and not stop too much, but nature had other ideas. I had hardly gone ten miles before I looked to my left and saw these beautiful cottonwood trees in the middle of golden-brown pastures, with a huge storm brewing over the flanks of Mount Tom and the rest of the Sierra. I pulled over and found a high spot and waited for the right conditions of light and clouds — enough clearing to make out the shape of the mountain with its crown of newly fallen snow plus some light on the pasture and the trees.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Snow Storm, Eastern Sierra

October 6, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An early autumn storm drops snow along the summit of Wheeler Ridge, Sierra Nevada

This is not a photograph of eastern Sierra Nevada autumn aspens, a subject that has been quite visible in my stream recently. However, it is as much a photograph of autumn in the Sierra as is another photograph of those trees. During October we often seen the beginning of the grand changing of the gears that moves us from summer to winter. At times it may seem like summer will stick around forever, especially on one of those beautiful, crystal clear autumn days when the light simply glows. But inevitably these days cannot last and soon the first Pacific weather fronts arrive. The first few may only leave a dusting of snow, but the message is unmistakable — winter is coming.

This was such a weekend in the eastern Sierra. On the first day it was sunny and warm, and there was barely any sign that a change was imminent. Yet that night the change most certainly arrived, and when I awoke early in the morning it was in the low thirty-degree range at my camp and snow pellets were falling. Looking outside, through the clouds I could see that the surrounding peaks were covered with a thin coat of snow. After a bit of early morning photography I began my long drive back home, heading up US 395 along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra. Conditions were very changeable, and this scene quickly went from being completely obscured by clouds and rain to clearing conditions with only a remnant of the precipitation along the summit of immense Wheeler Ridge above Long Valley.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Staggering Couple

October 4, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A couple staggers past a closed business along a San Francisco sidewalk.

To me, this photograph has a sort of strange and somewhat perverse quality — like a scene from some bizarre circus or suggesting a madhouse or a dream. It is, admittedly, something of a construction — a construction by means of limiting what is shown of the surroundings and by means of a shutter speed slow enough to blur details and create a fantastical quality. It didn’t hurt that the postures of the couple are somewhat awkward and strange.

As is so often the case for me when photographing in places like this, my attention first went to the architecture and the wild colors and patterns painted on the closed shutters of this shop. That would be somewhat interesting, but hard to make work as a photograph on its own, especially when shooting handheld. And then this couple appeared, walking (sort of) along the sidewalk, hanging onto each other. Set against this incongruous background, they become something quite different from what they actually were.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bargain Depot Chinatown

October 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Man with guitar walks past a Chinatown souvenir shop at night.

When photographing in the “street” you never quite know what will show up, when it will happen, or how quickly it will appear and disappear. And you have very, very little control over the elements that might make a photograph — you can sometimes pick your point of view, perhaps create a composition out of the static elements, watch a person approaching who might put a point of focus in the scene… but they you simply have to work with whatever happens. I think this can be even a bit trickier at night, since not all of the interesting things take place in light that can easily be photographed.

Here the first focus for me was the gaudy, colorful, and well-lit interior of this open front store in San Francisco’s Chinatown district. There is some interest in that subject alone, but frankly it can be a pretty static thing when not populated by people. As I looked at this storefront and pondered how to make a photograph out of it I noticed a man wandering up the sidewalk with a guitar, a literal strolling minstrel. At that point, he became the important element, and as he passed I attempted to time several exposures that placed him in interesting places in the composition.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: usa

Round Valley, Autumn Snow

Autumn Snow Storm, Eastern Sierra

Staggering Couple

Bargain Depot Chinatown

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