Images

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Boulders in the Canyon

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Boulders in the Canyon
Red rock boulders at the base of a cliff in a slot canyon.

Boulders in the Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red rock boulders at the base of a cliff in a slot canyon.

These boulders are of what I think is my favorite kind of red rock country sandstone. I’m afraid that I can’t name the various strata by memory, but I recognize it as coming from one of the thick, red layers that is generally quite homogeneous — the kind of rock that is often seen on a tower or cliff as a thick band.

Probably obviously, these rocks have been displaced from their original location in some way. I would have to go back to the spot and look to say for sure, but perhaps they fell from higher up on the canyon wall, though they could have eroded from a nearby layer or even have been moved downstream by flooding. Here they contrast with the rougher and more textured features of the rock lining the canyon.

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Plants, Canyon Light

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Plants, Canyon Light
A beam of light catches plants growing on the shadowed walls of a Utah slot canyon.

Plants, Canyon Light. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A beam of light catches plants growing on the shadowed walls of a Utah slot canyon.

While much of the time canyon light seems soft, suffused, and stable, there are edge conditions in which the light changes very quickly — appearing suddenly and lasting only minutes or seconds. This is especially true with direct light since the edges of the light are often scores or hundreds of feet above, and shadows from such things can traverse the deep canyon landscape with astonishing speed.

This photograph was made in such a place and in such conditions. The canyon walls were nearly parallel to the angle of the sun, and the beam of light came down from above only inches from the surface of the canyon wall. While the rock remains in shadow, this light manages to stoke the tree bits of vegetation in the scene.

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.

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

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

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

In The Urban Canyon

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In The Urban Canyon
A wall of tall buildings in downtown San Francisco.

In The Urban Canyon. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall of tall buildings in downtown San Francisco.

Keeping with the “canyon” theme of so many recent posts — but with an entirely different sort of canyon — this is a photograph from downtown San Francisco that I made on one of my regular walks through the City. You could find this scene if you walked down the central Market Street that connects the center of the City with the Ferry Terminal.

I have previously written about how I can connect the ways I photograph the wild landscape to how I see the urban landscape. One of the most direct relationships might be between the deep and narrow canyons of Southern Utah and these deep and narrow canyons in urban downtown areas. In both cases, there is not that much direct light in the lowest levels aside from the middle of the day or when the sun aligns with the length of the canyon. Consequently, understanding reflected light is very important in these places.( In addition to the usual diffused light in the depths of wilderness canyons, the urban versions often feature direct reflections from windows, which can sometimes light a subject from more than one angle.)

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn, Red Rock Country

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Autumn, Red Rock Country
Autumn colors appear in red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park.

Autumn, Red Rock Country. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors appear in red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park.

As best as I can recall — it was eight years ago! — I must have stopped alongside the road through Capitol Reef National Park to make this photograph, probably not far from the Fruita park facilities and campground. The photograph is looking more or less north along the front of the tall red rock formations that face to the west here.

This is a different view of this landscape than that presented in my recent photographs from the deep within the canyons. This is more about the grand, open landscape of this area, with long lines of stratified red-rock formations, great expanses of broad valleys, trees and brush, streams and rivers, and immense sky.

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.