Images

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dawn, Fog, and Frost

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Dawn, Fog, and Frost
“Dawn, Fog, and Frost” — Dawn fog drifts above frost-covered landscape at Tuolumne Meadows.

During most of the summer months, after the snow clears out (usually) by June, this meadow is a green place, often sunny, warm and inviting. I’ve been known to wander out into it and sit on the banks of the river or perch myself on a rock to admire the view. But as summer ends and autumn approaches, things change — the meadow becomes dry, temperatures begin to moderate, and before long it is clear that the brief summer season is ending.

This was one of those “autumn is coming” mornings. I arrived to find low fog drifting above frost-covered ground. I had to work quickly as this kind of fog usually doesn’t stick around for long, and the frost would melt when the sun rose. But for a few moments in this predawn light, it truly felt like winter in this meadow.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Handbills and Tags

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Hadbills and Tags
“Handbills and Tags” — Handbills and tags in a frame on a wall, Santiago de Compostela.

This subject comes from a side-street in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It is in the historical core of the “old town” but not at one of the main attractions — on a street where visitors are perhaps more likely to walk past than to linger. In a sense, its content attests to the fact that life here goes on apart from the world of tourists like us.

I thought several things were interesting about the display. Most of the handbills seem to concern musical performances, but not quite all of them. For example, there is a “FOTO-GRAFIA” event listed on one of the fliers. It also intrigues me that this object, the inner square and the frame around it, seem to both encourage and constrain the sharing of marks that are not found on the surrounding walls.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist

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Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist
“Trees, Pond, and Morning Mist” — Late-Summer morning mist rises from a subalpine pond surrounded by dense forest.

I have driven past this lake for years — decades actually — but I’ve only stopped a few times and hardly ever tried to photograph it. Until this year. Earlier this summer I was there on a morning after rain, and the little basin was full of luminous fog. On this mid-September visit the weather was wet, foo, and I had to stop and photograph when I saw more fog.

There is a sort of classic view of this feature, and I did make some photographs from that perspective. But then I decided to wander along the side of the pond, reaching its end and then walking back through forest. From that perspective, the view through the trees caught my attention, so I positioned myself behind a few backlit shoreline trees to make this photograph.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini

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Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini
“Shadows, Ponte Dei Carmini” — Light and shadows on buildings at the Ponte Dei Carmini, Venice.

This photograph from Venice embodies many of the features that I expect to see in that part of the world. The Southern European light? Yes. Wrought iron work? Check. Earth tone colors on the buildings? Indeed. Narrow walkways? For sure. Of course, the venetian-style canals — not visible in this photo — are not quite so ubiquitous.

I’ll share a little technical note about this photograph. Cameras cannot really produce a native image that shows us details in both the very bright highlights (direct sunlight) and deep shadows. (Our eyes deal with this by quickly adapting to the brightness at the center of our attention.) So with digital photography our first priority is to protect those bright highlights — let them get out of control and you’ll lose highlight details completely. The subsequent post-processing task is then to brighten details in the shadows to restore what we think we saw when we looked at the scene. The trick is to do that in a manner that doesn’t give it away, one that doesn’t make the technique too obvious

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.