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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Happiness…

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Happiness...
Street scene in downtown San Francisco

Happiness…. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene in downtown San Francisco.

There is a good chance that you don’t immediately see why this photograph is titled “Happiness…” But now that you’ve looked more closely, you have probably figured it out. Yes, the word “Happiness” appears in large letters on the wall of one of the buildings. On one hand, I suppose it is a nice word to have on your building. On the other hand… does painting a word on the side of the building bring happiness. Feel free to ponder.

Aside from that, this spot in downtown San Francisco has intrigued me for some time. It is an area that has been undergoing a lot of redevelopment, with the new transit center right behind my camera position. I have photographed this curving freeway ramp from the other side of this scene, looking back towards the camera position of this image. There’s something attractive about the curve as it cuts right through the angular forms of this downtown area. I’m also a sucker for reflected light, such as that falling on the closed roadway at the bottom of the frame. You might say that it brings me… happiness.

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: Sierra Nevada

Tree and Rock Face

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Tree and Rock Face
A tree next to an eroded and fractured rock face, John Muir Wilderness

Tree and Rock Face. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A tree next to an eroded and fractured rock face, John Muir Wilderness.

Here I am back, once again, to that trip into the John Muir Wilderness from which so many recent posts have come. Believe it or not, there still may be a few to come! With a full week to photograph there, I had ample opportunities to explore all sides of this area.

Above our camp the landscape opened up, becoming more rugged and alpine. This is a land of exposed rocks, glacially smoothed and ground down, with rocks and slabs interspersed with meadows. As I followed a creek up into this drainage, often skirting along the edge of wet, meadowy areas, I saw some interesting rock patterns a bit higher up at the base of a nearby ridge, so I climbed up to photograph the rocks and the small trees and wildflowers growing there.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Parking Lot, Bay Fog

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Parking Lot, Bay Fog
A parking lot along the edge of San Francisco Bay on a foggy morning

Parking Lot, Bay Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A parking lot along the edge of San Francisco Bay on a foggy morning.

As the end of August approached I realized that I wanted to get up to the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco to see the extensive Andy Warhol exhibit. (While I’m not the world’s biggest Warhol fan, I find his work interesting and thought-provoking and seeing this collection was a rare opportunity.) I often combine visits to this museum with photography, and that was the plan this time, too.

As I often do for such visits, I took the train up from my home, arriving fairly early in the morning. It was a somewhat unusual San Francisco morning along the waterfront of the Bay. It was already warm when I arrived, and it was also humid — unusual for California. Despite the warmth, fog was drifting across the inner San Francisco Bay, backlit by the early morning sun. I’ve walked along this section of the bay between the train station and the Ferry Building many times, so at this point I’m often looking for things aren’t your typical San Francisco photographs, and as I walked past this familiar parking lot, standing on old piers right along the water, I was attracted by the lines and curves and the backlit structures.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Rocky Meadow

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Trees, Rocky Meadow
Trees march up the slopes of a rocky subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness

Trees, Rocky Meadow. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees march up the slopes of a rocky subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness.

Yes, I am still mining the files from this 2017 trip into the John Muir Wilderness. We were lucky to stay in an absolutely lovely area, and to find that this area was also within day-hiking distance of other wonderful locations, some of which were literally minutes away from our base camp. On top of that, we hit the weather jackpot. After a very wet and extended winter season, the lingering snows had kept the Sierra wet later than usual, and despite arriving here in the last week of August and sticking around until the very beginning of September, we had green meadows and wildflowers.

Perhaps a fifteen minute walk above our camp, beautiful subalpine meadows began. This is the land of small trees separated by expenses of seasonal green, dotted with boulders, swampy in places, and often open to expansive views of distant peaks. In short, it is pretty much my favorite place to be in the Sierra Nevada.

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.