Tag Archives: woman

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

Couple on Bench

Leave a comment
Couple on Bench
A couple sitting on a bench outside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Couple on Bench. San Francisco, California. May 6. 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A couple sitting on a bench outside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

A couple of years ago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) closed for work on a major expansion and remodeling project. We have been members for some time, and I recall squeezing in one last visit before the long closure — viewing favorite works and making photographs inside the place. The big news is that the remodel is virtually finished now, and the museum officially reopens very soon, on May 14. But an opening like this doesn’t take place all at once. There is a sort of run-up to the actual event that brings people into the new facility over a period of time. As members, it was our turn (along with thousands of others) to get a preview this week.

I may have more to say about the museum in the future, but for now I’ll just say that I like it a lot — both the work exhibited (not that we saw all of it in one day!) and the building itself. There are a number of wonderful touches — many visual connections to the surrounding city (where the previous facility felt more walled off from San Francisco), lots of light, a brilliant system of stairways and spaces along the eastern side, and more. Oddly, almost none of that is in this first photograph I made at the new SFMOMA, which depicts an almost deserted new entrance and seems to show more of the surrounding city environment than the museum itself. More to come eventually…

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+ | LinkedIn | Email

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: People

Desert Canyon Hiking

Leave a comment
Desert Canyon Hiking
Hiking down a narrow desert slot canyon

Desert Canyon Hiking. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hiking down a narrow desert slot canyon

We (Patty and I) spent some good time in Death Valley earlier this spring, hiking and photographing in many interesting places in Death Valley. This trip brought some, uh, “special” weather on almost every day: huge dust storms, strong winds, rain, you name it. On a couple of days we escaped into narrow desert canyons, where the steep walls cut off most of the wind and produce the stillness and quiet that are so special in these places.

The hike into this canyon began along the upper edge of one of the giant alluvial fans that spread out into the valley from the lower ends of almost all canyons at the base of the desert mountain ranges. We hiked across to a wash, dropped in, and headed up into the canyon, replacing the expansive views of the giant valley with the constrained and intimate views of the interior of the canyon. In a few spots this canyon became quite narrow — never close to a squeeze, but narrow enough that we could not see beyond the next bend.

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.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Photographers

Photographer, Death Valley

Leave a comment
Photographer, Death Valley
Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in Death Valley National Park

Photographer, Death Valley. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in Death Valley National Park

Patricia Emerson Mitchell at work in the desert landscape of Death Valley National Park in morning light. Our morning here started much earlier, well before sunrise, and we walked out across the playa and around the side of dunes before sunrise. We arrived at the dunes just as the first light arrived, hitting the mountains to our west and then working its way down to the valley floor and across to us. Landscape photography might seem like a rather leisurely pursuit — after all, mountains don’t move much! — but at these times of marginal light things can happen very quickly.

We continued photographing after sunrise, enjoying the chance to explore the nearly endless subjects among the forms and colors and textures of the dunes. Eventually the sun would rise high enough to diminish the beauty of the light and it would be time to leave. It was perhaps approaching that time when I stopped atop a low dune and saw Patty photographing across the landscape, with her long shadow extending in front of her camera and the distant mountains of the Panamint Range rising in beyond.

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.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Narrow Canyon, Hiker

Leave a comment
Narrow Canyon, Hiker
A hiker passes through a narrow section of a desert canyon.

Narrow Canyon, Hiker. Death Valley National Park, California. March 30, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hiker passes through a narrow section of a desert canyon.

Almost anywhere you are in desert country, canyons can be attractive places on days that might not be so enjoyable out in the open. They are often protected from wind — and in Death Valley, at least on this trip, that also meant protected from dust storms. Their light is frequently appealing during midday hours where many other locations are experiencing harsh flat light —  in canyons the midday light can reflect down among the canyon walls and look beautiful at almost any time of day. They can also be cooler, with high walls that protect from the hottest sun.

Between morning and evening photography we decided we would take a hike up this canyon — not the most popular in the park but not the least visited either, so we shared the experience with some other hikers. The approach to this canyon took us across the lower face of an arid mountain range, then dropped into a wash and started to ascend, with tall canyon walls quickly ascending both sides of the canyon. In places this canyon is impressively narrow, and everywhere it is very deep. While it has some of the water-formed features that are common to all such canyons, these Death Valley canyons have a rugged and rough-hewn character that is quite different from that of the popular Utah canyons.

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.