Tag Archives: white

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

Rock Abstraction

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Rock Abstraction
“Rock Abstraction” — An imaginary landscape of rock, Point Lobos coastline.

I feel that there is always a tension in landscape photography between showing things as they literally are, showing them as we might wish they were, and using them as departure points for more imaginative explorations of what they suggest to us. This photograph falls squarely into the latter category. As I looked at the remarkable patterns in these shoreline rocks, I thought about how I have seen similar patterns in paintings. So I decided to push reality a bit and head in the direction that those works suggested.

Once again, this photograph illustrates how I/we can find new things in old places. I made the photograph at a coastal spot that I have photographed since I was a young kid with a cheap black and white camera, imagining himself following in the footsteps of Adams and Weston — who also photographed exactly here. Decades later I still return and ind new things and new ways to see them.

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

The White Stone

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The White Stone
“The White Stone” — A white stone rests among many-colored pebbles, Point Lobos.

I had a free morning in mid-April, so I headed over to Point Lobos, barely more than an hour’s drive from here. I might have gone on down the Big Sur coast, but road washouts have closed that route for now. So Point Lobos it was! I arrived to gray weather — high fog and not much in the way of interesting, directional light. But eventually the clouds began to pull back toward the coast and soft, directional light appeared.

Point Lobos always rewards a slower pace. There’s a lot to see here, and even more to see if you linger and start to notice things that you might miss by passing through quickly. The edges of this cove are lined with rocky strata that gradually dip into the water. Winter surf pushes all sorts of interesting stuff up onto the shoreline, and I enjoy walking slowly here and seeing what I can find. The small colorful pebbles are everywhere, but the larger white rock was the special find.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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

Meandering Channels

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Meandering Channels
“Meandering Channels” — Water flows across the salt playa through meandering channels in Death Valley.

Viewed up close from the valley floor, Death Valley is a mostly flat place blanked by tall mountains. But the details of its huge playa are largely invisible unless you travel off the paved roads and out into it. But even there, the flat terrain makes it difficult to fully understand the landforms. To do that you are better off heading to some place high above the valley and looking down into it from above.

I went one such place very early in the morning, and from there I watched the first rays of sunrise light strike the peaks of mountains across the valley, then work their way down to the valley itself. Eventually the shadows contracted and the full valley was in sun, revealing remarkable patterns of land, salt deposits, and meandering seasonal streams.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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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

Flooded Playa

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Flooded Playa
“Flooded Playa” — The flooded landscape of the playa near Manly Lake, Death Valley.

This is another in a series of photographs of the floor of Death Valley near Badwater, photographed from high in the Black Mountains early one morning. Following a historic storm in August of 2023, this part of the valley flooded, partially reconstituting the historic Lake Manly. There is still a lot of water, and many areas of the playa are currently inaccessible.

To make these photographs I used very long focal length lenses, which allowed me to isolate small areas in this vast terrain. The formations seen here are in a very flat area just upstream of Lake Manly. The area is mostly a salt flat in normal times. Here the blue water makes visible the many wandering channels through which the water flows.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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