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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Dried Winter Flower

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Dried Winter Flower
Dried desert wildflowers, Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park

Dried Winter Flower. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dried desert wildflowers, Panamint Range, Death Valley National Park.

As someone once wrote, “There’s always something to see!” Occasionally I have to work at reminding myself of this, and then I have to work at doing the “seeing.” My recent January trip to Death Valley was a case in point. This is a place I know well, and where I usually can find plentiful subjects to photograph, and where conditions usually are not an impediment. In fact, the conditions regarded as challenging — things like dust storms — often turn out to be photographically compelling. However, on this trip things often seemed a bit… blah. There were thick clouds and a heavy atmosphere, with a sort of gray and murky effect that did not seem to provide many opportunities to photograph the grand landscape and which left a kind of flat light that wasn’t even great for more intimate subjects.

As I often remind myself, if I’m in the field often enough that I manage to encounter spectacular conditions I have to accept that sometimes I’ll experience the opposite, too. So in conditions like these I have strategies. One is to simply slow down and enjoy being in the place — and I did quite a bit of that on this trip, taking time to wander up some quiet washes and to poke around odd back-country places. Another is to look where I don’t usually look. This photograph came about from a combination of those focuses. Driving a gravel road “in the middle of nowhere” I noticed an abandoned side road, stopped, got out and walked along it, discoing some old mining remnants. As I walked back toward my vehicle I realized that the surrounding terrain was full of winter plants holding a remarkable number of these dried flowers, something I hadn’t noticed here before.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds

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Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds
Clouds float above salt flats and desert mountains in dawn light, Death Valley National Park

Salt Flats, Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.Salt Flats, Dawn CloudsSalt Flats, Dawn Clouds. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds float above salt flats and desert mountains in dawn light, Death Valley National Park.

There is a lot I could write about this photograph and the recent trip on which I made it — I think I could easily write a chapter about it. But I’m going to try to keep it shorter. I photograph in Death Valley National Park during at least one week each year and frequently more often. When it comes to photography, this was one of the more difficult trips I’ve taken to the place. Mainly the weather didn’t cooperate much at all, at least not where I was. A couple of days featured gloomy, low contrast overcast. It even managed to rain one night! I reminded myself that I’ve had many beautiful days in this park, and if you go anywhere enough times you’ll see it when it is at its best… and when it isn’t! I also simply enjoy being in the place, so when photography seemed unlikely I explored: checking out some mine sites high in the mountains, wandering up a few washes I hadn’t visited before, and so on.

I was hopeful that the last morning, when I had an hour or so to photograph before I had to pack up my camp, might just provide some lovely light. Things did not begin in a very promising fashion.I had picked a likely location for dawn photography, but in the pre-dawn twilight I could see that a layer of clouds hung over most of the valley. I went ahead and wandered out onto the salt flats. I made a few early photographs — some of which will likely be worth sharing — but things were looking distinctly unspectacular. However, I did enjoy the utter solitude and silence out in this lonely spot on a winter morning when few people were out and about in the park. But patience paid off eventually, as the clouds began to thin a bit and light angled in above the cloud bank to the east, producing a rather spectacular arc of clouds and color above the salt flats.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

In Storage

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In Storage
Casts of antiquities stored in Manhattan.

In Storage. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Casts of antiquities stored in Manhattan.

While visiting Manhattan in last December we ended up in an older, somewhat nondescript building not far from Grand Central Station where, among other things, an organization focused on classical architecture has offices. On a day when the place was mostly closed we were able to visit the building and, of course, we made a few photographs.

This room was fascinating. It is full of casts of various bits and pieces of statues and (I think) elements taken from various architecture. It is my understanding that the institutions from which these specimens come now may have originals in their place, so exhibiting the casts is no longer so attractive. But walking through a room full of them in storage on a cold winter day is an unusual experience. Here the warm interior light on the objects contrasts with the very blue outdoor light of a winter Manhattan day.

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.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Iconic Magazines

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Iconic Magazines
Mulberry Iconic Magazines at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, Manhattan

Iconic Magazines. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mulberry Iconic Magazines at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, Manhattan.

When I travel I often try to figure out what factors give a place its “quality,” that sometimes vague sense of the place that sets it apart from other locations. Sometimes, of course, certain aspects are pretty obvious — only one city has an Empire State Building, there’s only one Eiffel Tower, no other bridge is quite like the Golden Gate Bridge, not every city is filled with canals, and so on. One factor that I notice in quite a few large cities, but in a particular way in Manhattan, is the difference between the objective grittiness and even ugliness of many exteriors versus the often warm and inviting quality of personal interiors — people’s homes, many eating places, certain stores, and more.

Those worlds aren’t complete disconnected though, and especially in winter I feel that spots where light spills out from those interiors into the public space can connect them. This one happens to be on a street corner that might not otherwise seem particularly special, but it contrasts greatly with the rather grim exertion of the upper floors and with the street in front. (For the record, I do realize that my description above is not quite air-tight…)

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.

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