Images

Photographs: Northern California

Fisherman’s Shed

Image Leave a comment
Fisherman's Shed
A shed used by fisherman at the historic China Camp, San Pablo Bay.

Fisherman’s Shed. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shed used by fisherman at the historic China Camp, San Pablo Bay.

The subject is a small building on a pier at the historic settlement of China Camp, on the San Pablo Bay lobe of San Francisco Bay. Beginning in the 1800s this area was the home to many immigrants from China and the location of a thriving shrimp fishing and drying operation. Today it is an unusually quiet location along the edge of the very busy San Francisco Bay Area.

This is not a new photograph. In fact, an earlier version of it sits somewhere in my archive with a different title. Over the past few months I have been revisiting my extensive raw file archives, mostly to find images that I originally overlooked, but in a few cases to rethink my original reinterpretation of previously shared photographs. One of the changes here came from a conversation with my friend David Hoffman, who suggested a better way to crop the photograph.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Lake, Dawn, Eastern Sierra

Image Leave a comment
“Autumn Lake, Dawn, Eastern Sierra” — Dawn light comes to an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake surrounded by autumn aspen trees and reflecting distant peaks.

Yes, this is a bit of an iconic spot, but with good reason. And this year the colors around this Eastern Sierra Nevada lake were exceptional. I first photographed here before it became the often over-busy place it is today, so I’ve seen the color transition here many times. It has been about a decade since I saw colors like what I found this year. The most striking thing this year was the abundance of red and orange colors, something we don’t see every time.

The circumstances of this photograph were a bit complex. I was camped nearby the night before, and at sunset a thick cloud of suffocating wildfire smoke descended from the Sierra crest. I almost packed up and left, but then I decided to at least stick around for the night and see what the morning might bring. It was still smoky in the morning though not quite as bad as the previous night. Figuring that the smoke would be even worse farther to the north, I decided to head to this nearby lake. The smoke muted the light quite a bit, but because the smoke is not consistently thick there were moments when it thinned and more directional light appeared. I decided to simply set up in one spot and patiently wait for those momentary changes in illumination.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Sur, Winter Light

Image Leave a comment
Point Sur, Winter Light
Winter surf and light beneath the lighthouse at Point Sur.

Point Sur, Winter Light. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter surf and light beneath the lighthouse at Point Sur.

This photograph is at the historic Point Sur, a rocky hill that would be a monumental sea stack if it were not still tenuously connected to the mainland by a low, sandy peninsula. (I’ve always wondered how often that peninsula has been overtopped by huge storm surf or perhaps an occasional tsunami.) The lighthouse at the upper left is part of a more extensive set of structures erected decades ago to support the isolated lighthouse keepers. Long ago it was considered to be so remote that it was resupplied by ships that arrived every few months, and the keepers and their families had to be essentially self-sufficient.

Point Sur has a tremendous physical presence along this section of the rugged coast. Before and after it the steep hills and cliffs are momentarily interrupted by low headlands, so it stands out against this flatter landscape.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Forest, Boulder, and Pond

Image Leave a comment
Forest, Boiulder, and Pond
A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Forest, Boulder, and Pond. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree grows in a crack in a large boulder set in forest and reflected in a quiet Sierra Nevada pond.

Although the indications are more subtle than in the wildly colorful aspen groves, this is also a Sierra Nevada fall color photograph. It is not a familiar icon — not remotely so! — but it seems to be “iconic” to me, in the sense that it captures something of the quality of this season when things seem to slow down in preparation for the coming winter.

What are the subtle autumn signifiers in this photograph? There is one obvious feature in the tiny patch of yellow leaves at the far right. But those grasses lining the banks of this small pond are another indicator — while they are still green at their bases, the upper tips have gone to yellow and brown. There is something about the quality of the light, too. It always seems softer to me at this time of year, especially in shaded areas like this one.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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