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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Waterfall and Pond, Japanese Garden

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Waterfall And Pond, Japanese Garden
“Waterfall And Pond, Japanese Garden” — Waterfall, pond, and trees in a quiet Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon.

Some years back we used to get to visit Portland, Oregon somewhat regularly when we had family in the area. (Our youngest son lived there for a few years.) Portland is a rather unique place, especially in the central core. I won’t try to explain except to point out that there is a rather unique fusion of cultures in the area. We like the place, though it has been a few years now since our last visit.

Portland seems to me to be a city off gardens. Two wonderful Asian gardens are in the area — the Chinese Garden in an urban setting close to the downtown area, and the Japanese Garden set in more rustic surroundings in the hills. We spent a day in the latter garden, and this photograph of a lush scene of water and vegetation is one of several photographs I made there during this visit.

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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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Detail, Steel Bridge

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Detail, Steel Bridge
“Detail, Steel Bridge ” — Structural detail of the Steel Bridge, Portland, Oregon

This might be the most unimaginatively named steel bridge in the United States — as far as I can tell it is actually called “Steel Bridge.” Which it is. The bridge crosses the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, where its double-deck structure (with a center section that can be raised) carries trains, cars, pedestrians, bicycles, and rapid transit across the water. When we visited we joined the pedestrians, which gave me a chance to look at the structure close up.

Old distressed and weathered structures like this intrigue me, and I know I’m not the only photographer who has this interest. Sometimes I imagine the contrast between some engineer crafting very careful and precise design drawings of the structure and its smaller elements, producing materials that reflect the conceptual perfection of such structures… and the real-world reality the creeps in over the long life of such structures. The latter is visible here in the multiple layers of paint, now marked by stain patterns and split open to reveal rust.

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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: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Tree, Red Rock Ledge

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Tree, Red Rock Ledge
A tree grows at the apex of a sandstone ledge, Zion National Park.

Tree, Red Rock Ledge. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree grows at the apex of a sandstone ledge, Zion National Park.

I recall composing the photograph and making several versions of it as I thought about where to position the tree at the apex of the ledge, a question made a bit complicated by some of the subjects surrounding the main focus and by the need to have the camera pointing upwards rather steeply. Shortly after this visit to Zion National Park I shared one or two early version of the scene, one in portrait and one in landscape orientation, if I recall correctly.

The compositional questions remaining in the back of my mind, however. When I came back to the original files recently I decided to work a bit with a different image from among the original group. As I worked it started to seem that it might be good to try a crop that I had not considered originally, one that took out some extraneous material. (A big part of editing is determining how much you can remove!)

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: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Double-Five

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Double-Five
“Double-Five” — Stenciled numbers on a weathered wall next to a roll-up door.

Weathered, decaying subjects and subjects with strong patterns attract me, and this one works on both counts. I photographed it a few years ago while wandering around in San Francisco and poking my camera into odd little corners and alleys. This is in a shoreline area that was once a location of true maritime industry, but which is today much like the rest of San Francisco — in other words a place for small offices, start-ups, restaurants and similar enterprises.

The stenciled numbers did catch my attention when I first saw this little scene. Initially I think that their weathered character may have been responsible. But more recently I have wondered about them. Do they still mean something or are they now remnants divorced from an earlier context? Is the message “5” or is it “55?” And what, if anything, is the relationship between the two different fonts used?

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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.