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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fractured Stone Landscape

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Fractured Stone Landscape
A small subalpine lake, fractured granite slabs, and peaks on the Sierra Nevada crest

Fractured Stone Landscape. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small subalpine lake, fractured granite slabs, and peaks on the Sierra Nevada crest.

This is the sort of Sierra Nevada landscape that usually appeals most strongly to me — that terrain just below the upper limits of trees, where small lakes and tarns dot the landscape, small meadows lie among them, high peaks tower, and rocks and slabs and boulders are everywhere. The latter — the “rocks and slabs and boulders” — are the most defining element of this landscape, all the way from the granite underfoot to the fractured faces and ridges of the peaks.

This spot, high in the Eastern Sierra, is essentially “at the end of the trail,” as the maintained trail ends at a lake just beyond the low saddle between the foreground and the more distant peak. It is a wonderful place for wandering, as the open terrain is conducive to route finding — this is country where it is possible to say, “I think I’ll go there,” and then find a clear route to “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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Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Light, Siena

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Streetlight, Siena
A wall-mounted streetlight bearring the colors of a Siena contrada.

Street Light, Siena. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall-mounted streetlight bearring the colors of a Siena contrada.

A few years back during a weeks-long trip through portions of Europe, we stayed in Tuscany for about a week and a half. We drove down from Germany (where Patty’s brother lives), stopped briefly in Bologna, continued on to Florence, and then to a place in this hills between there and Siena where we stayed for about a week. (We concluded this visit with a few days in Florence before flying home.) One one of those days in the hills we drove to Siena and spent a good part of the day there.

Our visit to Siena was too short… but at least we had time to do a brief exploration and realize that it would be worth a return trip. The old section of the city is a wonderful maze of narrow, twisting streets that eventually lead to the famous central square. The city is divided into 22 districts, each of which is identified by an animal and, as I understand it, a color scheme. The colors appear everywhere, but I thought they were especially notable on the novel street lights 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.

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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: Nature, Photographs: People, Photographs: People In Landscape, Photographs: Photographers, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Scott Miller Heads To The Office

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Scott Miller Heads To The Office
Photographer Scot Miller on his way to work in the John Muir Wilderness

Scott Miller Heads To The Office. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photographer Scot Miller on his way to work in the John Muir Wilderness.

One fun (and useful!) aspect of photographing the backcountry with other photographers is that a) we occasionally find a human figure in our landscapes to provide focus, and b) we make photographs of one another! (Some of the photographs of me on this website were made by folks including Patty Mitchell, Scot Miller, Charles Cramer, Michael Frye, and more.) In this photograph, Scot Miller is traversing the edge of a beautiful, high Sierra Nevada meadow as the golden hour begins.

Photographing in the backcountry is perhaps not quite what folks who don’t do it may imagine. I suspect that they might imagine non-stop ecstasy in such surroundings, and days or weeks of ease and joy. Parts of that are true — it is hard to imagine a more beautiful sort of location, and there are utterly sublime moments. Yet, truth be told, it isn’t like that quite all the time. There are long, difficult climbs to get to locations, the physical toll can occasionally be daunting, hiking with a lot of gear in pack and over the shoulder isn’t always a walk in the park, and the light is not always astoundingly beautiful. In short, it is actual, real work that requires focus, intensity, and dedication. Ah, but I’m fortunate to get to work with some wonderful folks, and when it pays off… :-)

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: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Laundry, Siena

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Laundry, Siena
Laundry hangs outside a weathered yellow builiding in Siena, Italy

Laundry, Siena. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Laundry hangs outside a weathered yellow builiding in Siena, Italy.

The old part of Siena is remarkable. Yes, there are old cities and towns all over Italy, and they all have their charms. But my (too!) brief visit to Siena showed me a town that felt quite different. A maze of narrow and curving streets encircles the main piazza, it is easy to become lost here. But after negotiating the maze you can emerge at the remarkable Piazza del Campo, the large square where the famous horse races are held.

You don’t see all of that in this photograph, but you do see lots of little features that are common in this part of the world. The color of the building on the left is intense, but it is also common — many buildings are in a narrow color band between brown and yellow… and many are also rather weathered, like this one. The light is also typical of this area — intense and stark in the summer, especially in the midday.

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.