Tag Archives: white

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

Old Cottonwood Trees, Autumn

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Old Cottonwood Trees, Autumn
“Old Cottonwood Trees, Autumn” — Old cottonwood trees against autumn sky, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This is a photograph that I wish I had seen this way while I was there! On the scene, while wandering into a beautiful section of a big, deep canyon to photograph water, sandstone, and fall colors, I came across these trees (or this tree – they may grow from a common root system) and made the photograph in landscape orientation… and only realized while working on it in post that I really like it in portrait orientation, too. So, yes, this is cropped from a larger original photograph.

I don’t know how others will “see” this, but for me this version recalls a lot of older monochrome photographs of subjects like this from an earlier era – the era in which I first came to be fascinated by photography. Way “back in the day” when I first did photography, with the encouragement and help of my father, virtually all of the photographers whose work inspired me shot black and white. With that in mind, and with my early experience involving how to shoot, develop, and print black and white, I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that I still love monochrome. (A number of my personal favorites among my own work are black and white.) In this one I even applied the virtual equivalent of the classic filtering to alter the tonal balance and lighten clouds and foliage and somewhat darken the massive, twisting forms of tree trunks and branches.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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

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

Red on White, Sandstone

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Red on White, Sandstone - A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park
A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park

Red on White, Sandstone. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A vestigial layer of red sandstone forms small, layered mounds atop patterned white rock, Zion National Park

All over the southwest, where various layers of sedimentary rock meet, it is possible to find odd and surprising juxtapositions of the different layers. In many places a bit of a higher, harder layer will remain above the softer material below, creating hoodoos and mushroom-shaped structures. Sometime the upper rim of a canyon will be lined with a layer of the harder rock, while there is a steep drop-off below. Here, bits of the darker read sandstone, with different types of layering and different texture, sit on top of the smoothly curving and finely layered underlying lighter rock.

I had seen this spot in Zion in the past – it isn’t all that hard to find – and even photographed it from a greater distance and different angles. This time I decided to approach more closely, walking out on the wave-like formation of the lower, lighter rock and passing around these small reddish prominences. I made this photograph on the same day I made many of my other most recent Zion photographs, a day when the light varied tremendously due to winds and cloud cover. One moment this spot was hit by brilliant sunshine, and a moment later it was in shade – and the changes did not always synchronize between the near and far elements. I made this photograph during a moment when the direct sun was largely muted by passing clouds.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Wildlife

Ross’s Geese, Tree and Marsh

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Ross's Geese, Tree and Marsh
Ross’s Geese, Tree and Marsh

Ross’s Geese, Tree and Marsh. Central Valley, California. December 11, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A thick flock of Ross’s geese flies above a marsh and a solitary tree in California’s Central Valley

After a full morning (and then some!) of photographing mostly Ross’s geese at a Central Valley wildlife refuge, we took a short break for a mid-afternoon lunch and then hurried back to the refuge by about 3:30 for evening photography. One of the last things we did before taking this break was to briefly assemble at the main overlook near the entrance to the refuge, where we were a bit surprised to see lots of geese settling in on one of the nearby ponds, and from which we could look back and see still more geese at the edges of the pasture where we had been photographing them.

As is often the case on a tule fog day like this one in the Central Valley, while the fog did “clear,” the general haziness never did completely go away. Instead the atmosphere remained mildly opaque, and it glowed in the late afternoon sunlight. Looking west, it was almost hard to see into this glow, but that is the direction we looked to see the pond and beyond it some isolated trees and the wetlands disappearing into the distance. Behind us, back on that pasture, the flock suddenly lifted off all at once and the birds made a large loop or two around us. I could see that they were likely to pass by the far edge of this pond and by the silhouetted tree, so I did a “landscape on the fly,” shooting handheld with a 100-400mm zoom as the birds came into the composition that I quickly found.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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: Arizona, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: The Southwest

Storm, Monument Valley

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Storm, Monument Valley - Black and white photograph of incoming storm clouds looming over Monument Valley, Arizona
Black and white photograph of incoming storm clouds looming over Monument Valley, Arizona

Storm, Monument Valley. Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona. October 12, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of incoming storm clouds looming over Monument Valley, Arizona

As we moved on into and through the Monument Valley area, the weather and light conditions were constantly changing. One moment we would be in the midst of a heavy downpour, then we would emerge into the bright sunlight, made brighter by the contrast with the nearby gloom of a passing shower. We were traveling west, and even when the sun was out it seemed like there was a big cloud ahead, ready to drop more rain on us. The wind howled continuously, whether we were in sun or rain.

When I took this photograph we were momentarily in the sun – though that wind hardly allowed it to become warm. Looking around our locations I could see pouring rain, bright sunshine, and more incoming clouds. Despite the bright sunshine on the butte at lower left and the slightly obscured sunlight on the rocky hills beyond, in the distance there was a very large and very ominous cloud, pouring rain onto the desert. However, in virtually every way, I preferred this wild weather – even with the wind – to the alternative of boring blue skies!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.