Tag Archives: winter

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Winter Moon, Clouds, and Granite

February 28, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter moon rises through post-storm clouds above Yosemite Valley, California

On this winter evening, photographing the “usual subjects” in Yosemite Valley was not easy. This was the weekend of the Horsetail Falls pilgrimage, and hundreds or perhaps thousands of people were lined up with cameras in hopes of making their photograph of this thing/event – but for most this was not to be as the water fall was almost dried up and clouds blocked the sunset light. It had been a cloudy day, starting out with rain and staying that way for a good part of the day, with even a bit of light snow at times. As evening approached it looked like the cloud deck was going to remain thick and low and that it would likely be a gray evening.

With it looking like the potential for inspiring light was quite low, we went to Tunnel View – it seemed as good as any other option, it can be an inspiring place even when it doesn’t provide inspiring photographic opportunities, and I was with someone who had not really tried to photograph there. When we arrived there was some clearing, though the clouds seemed to remain thick to the west, meaning the no brilliant light was likely to be seen. I put a long lens on my camera and worked the upper rim of the Valley to my right, about 90 degrees away from the direction most were shooting, but where fog and mist drifted across the rim, granite pinnacles and cliffs, and among trees. As I watched this I noticed the nearly full moon occasionally poke out from behind clouds above Sentinel Rocks as the clouds and mist drifted this way and that. Since it was that early twilight time when a good exposure for the light of the moon can also work for other subjects such as clouds, sky, and mountains, I swung the camera around and watched the drifting clouds, waiting or moments when the took on interesting shapes and when the moon was visible.

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: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Winter Oaks, Morning Mist

February 25, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning mist swirls around Glacier Point beyond the silhouetted branches of winter oak trees, Yosemite Valley.

This morning proved – yet again – that there is “always something to see” if I’m just out there looking. We had stayed overnight in The Valley the night before, following the opening reception for Yosemite Renaissance 28, the annual juried exhibit of work created by artists inspired by and working in and around Yosemite National Park. (It is a wonderful show and you should stop by the Museum Gallery in the Valley if you are in the Valley during the next few months.) After heading out for a late dinner with a group of other participants after the reception, we got to bed quite late and the idea of waking up well before dawn to photograph was not sounding as appealing as it sometimes can. It didn’t help that the weather forecast was for clouds and a chance of rain or snow.

I woke up at 5:30 and reset my alarm for the relatively late hour of 6:30, thinking that whatever photography there might be would be almost outside my door and realizing that sunrise would not be until after 7:00 a.m. I got up, quickly dressed and grabbed camera gear, headed out the door and started walking. In the pre-dawn light I could see that the clear areas of the sky were quickly diminishing and that clouds were ringing the Valley. I ended up in nearly deserted Cooks Meadow, where I made a few photographs of trees and cliffs and so forth. Then it started to rain lightly. I kept shooting a bit longer, but soon realized that I couldn’t really stay out there since I had not thought to bring anything waterproof for me or my gear. I retreated to a nearby shuttle bus stop and found shelter under its roof. Now of all the places to look for aesthetic inspiration in the Sierra, a Yosemite Valley shuttle stop might be very close to the least likely. However, finding myself in one and with nothing else to do, I began to look around to see what I could see from this small sheltered area. First I noticed a large granite face to my east that was becoming reflective in the light rain, and I shot a few photographs in that direction. Then I looked up through the branches of dormant oak trees toward Glacier Point and saw clouds swirling about it and nearby pinnacles and trees, occasionally broken enough to allow some of the sunrise light to create a glow behind the mist. And there you have it – the first photograph I have made from under the roof of a shuttle stop… ;-)

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

Indian Restaurant

February 24, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late afternoon winter light on the exterior of a neighborhood Indian restaurant.

This restaurant is located not far from where I live – close enough that I could photograph it on a walk from my home. (Though these walks can sometimes carry me out to about a four mile radius or so…) This is not one of those fancy, up-scale Indian restaurants, but rather a local, neighborhood place whose location and outer appearance might not encourage you to go inside and try the delicious food. Yes, I’ve eaten there.

At first I was just thinking about the angles and surfaces of the building, but also about this interesting late-afternoon winter light that slants in almost parallel to the ground in the vertical dimension, and almost flat across the front wall of the restaurant. As I moved in to try to find a composition I noticed the empty vase for the first time, and as I line things up to keep the very bright light on a hidden wall out of the frame, I saw the bright and somewhat orange light reflected from that wall onto the more distant area to the left where a door is open (even though the restaurant is closed) and a blue milk carton crate has been abandoned.

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

Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light

February 19, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The shadow of a tree casts its shadow in winter light across an urban wall.

I made this photograph in the very late afternoon near the end of December, 2012. For some reason, each year at about this time I get the idea of doing a personal “photo walk” that starts at my front door and then wanders around the “neighborhood” in a two-mile or so radius. Almost invariably, the walk takes place late in the day and lasts through the sunset hours. I frequently cover (or perhaps I should write “cover again”) familiar territory, and I even re-photograph some of the same subjects that I have photographed in the past. (This isn’t the first time that I have photographed this wall.) I usually walk slowly for the most part, focusing more on looking than on walking. By slowing down and especially by paying attention to things I might photograph, I invariably see things – within walking distance of my home – that I would otherwise not see at all.

This photograph probably looks like a very strange amorphous thing to some viewers, so let me at least explain what you see. This is a concrete wall, with low angle sun striking it almost directly from the left, producing stretched shadows from a nearby tree. The wall is painted green, but the very warm golden hour light moves the color toward yellow. The wall apparently is an attractive target for vandals/graffiti artists, since it is apparent that something was previously painted out using a slightly different color paint. Although it is hard to see in this small web jpg, I like this odd mix of colors and the interesting details of the wall’s texture as they are revealing by the side-light.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: winter

Winter Moon, Clouds, and Granite

Winter Oaks, Morning Mist

Indian Restaurant

Urban Wall, Tree Shadow in Winter Light

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