Tag Archives: young

Bouquet #1

Bouquet #1
Bouquet #1

Bouquet #1. San Francisco, California. March 14, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Abstract photograph.

I think I generally prefer to not offer too much explanation about images like this one, and to let you take it for whatever it is.

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.

Arthur Tress, De Young Museum

Arthur Tress, De Young Museum - Photographer Arthur Tress speaks about his photography on March 9, 2012 at his exhibit at the De Young Museum, San Francisco.
Photographer Arthur Tress speaks about his photography on March 9, 2012 at his exhibit at the De Young Museum, San Francisco.

Arthur Tress, De Young Museum. San Francisco, California. March 9, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Arthur Tress speaks about his photography on March 9, 2012 at his exhibit at the De Young Museum, San Francisco.

Last week I was fortunate to be among a small group of San Francisco Bay Area photographers invited by Adobe to attend an event at San Francisco’s De Young Museum in connection with the opening of “San Francisco 1964,” an exhibit of the photography of Arthur Tress. The exhibit includes a large selection of work which, as I understand it, Tress shot as a young man upon his arrival in San Francisco in 1964, the year when both the Republican Convention and the Beatles arrived in The City.

While Tress’s photographs are certainly interesting historically in that they capture many elements, both small and large, that characterize the visual nature of that time, they are also just plain wonderful photographs. Many capture odd and ironic juxtapositions of elements, others focus on the people watching the main events (civil rights demonstrations, etc) taking place in front of them – and some are simply touching recordings of individual people. (One of my favorites, among many, is a haunting but seemingly simple photograph of a young woman sitting at a table.)

If you are a Bay Area photographer or photography aficionado – or even a fan of the history of the Bay Area – I encourage you to visit the De Young to see this show. And, again, thanks to Adobe for giving me the opportunity to see the photographs and, even more, to hear Tress speak about his work. (This photograph of Tress is presented in black and white and in a square format – once you see his show you will understand why… ;-)

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.

Tree Climbing Lesson

Tree Climbing Lesson - Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.
Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.

Tree Climbing Lesson. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.

I was very fortunate to be able to watch this bear family a couple of years ago – and to have a long enough lens to do so without intruding on them. The mother bear seemed to be alternately letting the “kids” play around and do whatever they felt like, and then offering them “climbing lessons” on some of the trees. The cub with black fur seemed the most comfortable at this, quickly scrambling straight up the trunks to surprising heights, moving with agility that reminded me of monkeys. The brown-fur sibling seemed a bit more cautious and “mama” seemed to have to offer a bit of encouragement and support, much as a human parent might do. Her actions at this point reminded me of my own experience with my kids the first time they climbed something (that seemed to them to be) dangerous – I followed close behind with my “front paws” around them, ready to catch if necessary.

While the brown cub initially hesitated quite a bit, before long it also took off and quickly ascended way up in the tree, and before long the whole family was 20 or more feet off the ground.

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.

Dogwood Leaves, Spring

Dogwood Leaves, Spring - New spring dogwood leaves after morning rain along Crane Flat Road, Yosemite National Park.
New spring dogwood leaves after morning rain along Crane Flat Road, Yosemite National Park.

Dogwood Leaves, Spring. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright 2009 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring dogwood leaves after morning rain along Crane Flat Road, Yosemite National Park.

There is a grove of dogwood trees along highway 120 into Yosemite, between the park entrance and the valley, where I stop several times each seasons. Most recently I stopped there on a quiet autumn evening this past October when the dogwood leaves were turning fall colors. Much earlier in the season I stop to see and photograph the dogwood flowers. I made this photograph several years ago on my first visit to the grove that season, on a rainy morning when the leaves had emerged and the flowers were in bloom.

While the flowers were the main reason I visited the grove on this morning, it turned out that the flower photographs were less interesting, in some ways, than the photographs I made of the leaves of the dogwood trees and of other newly sprouted plants. Not only where the plants young and fresh and green, but the soft light and the drops of water from the light rain intensified the colors and made the light less harsh.

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 | FacebookGoogle+ | 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.