G Dan Mitchell Photography

Roots and Rocks

Weathered tree roots stretch across boulders at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

I made this photograph at our first stop after we arrived at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. (Technically, that isn’t quite true, since we had earlier stopped at the “ranger station” to ask some questions, but this was the first “real” stop for photography.) The road into this area twists and turns as it ascends toward and then past a ski area, and here we couldn’t help but pull over at a hairpin curve that provided a panoramic overlook to the valley below and the ridges to the east (?) of our position. Although the original reason for stopping was this dramatic view, I soon found nearby “intimate landscapes” to also be very interesting. While I often hike and climb long distances to find my photographs… for this one the tripod was on asphalt and the subject right next to the road.

On a technical note, for this photograph I used a lens that I’m increasingly fond of for photographing subjects like this one, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM (link to B&H). I find it useful to be able to put a bit of distance between myself and subjects in which the entire image may include only a few square feet, and the ability to fine tune the composition with the zoom is very useful. Although I didn’t do it in this photography, working with a slightly longer focal length also lets me have the option of isolating the subject against an out of focus background. I have the non-IS version of the lens – because that was the only version available back when I got mine – though I would almost certainly get the IS version if I were to replace it.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: tree, nature, flora, foliage, forest, wood, branch, trunk, root, weathered, rock, boulder, alpine, plant, green, gray, bark, twig, leaf, landscape, travel, scenic, mount, baker, snoqualmie, national, forest, washington, usa, north america, pacific, northwest, cascades, mountain, range, detail, stock

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 113mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/16, 1/20 second

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Sep.03.2010
Category: Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature
2 Comments - click to comment

Me. With Camera.

One advantage of shooting with other talented photographers is that every so often one of them actually produces a good photograph of me! On last weekend’s visit to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Artist Point area, my brother Richard was my guide and fellow photographer – and he made a photograph of me that I like quite a bit. Thanks, Richard!

G Dan Mitchell at Mt. Shuksan. Photograph © Copyright Richard Mitchell. Use by permission.

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Sep.02.2010
Category: Commentary, Site News
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Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point

A trail weaves through meadow and among sub-alpine ponds at Artist Point with the ridge of Mt. Shuksan beyond – Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

This is another photograph from my late-August afternoon exploration of the stunning ridgeline of Artist Point in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Mt. Baker ski area. This ridge runs through an intimate landscape comprised of small rock fields, meadows with running streams, groves and isolated high elevation trees, and small ponds – and provides a truly stunning panorama that takes in Mount Baker on one side and Mount Shuksan on the other, with distant peaks all around. We could hardly have asked for better conditions for late-afternoon photography. Dramatic clouds ringed the peaks, sometimes obscuring them and sometimes clearing for a moment, and bright sun alternated with softer and diffused light as cloud shadows moved across the ridge.

A bit further along the ridge there is a series of small snow-melt lakes – what I usually refer to as “tarns” in the Sierra. Here a trail winds in front of a couple of them that sit in rocky hollows in front a few ridgeline trees, with the cloud-shrouded shoulder of glacier-covered Mount Shuksan beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: washington, state, usa, north american, cascades, mountain, range, ridge, peak, mt., mount, baker, snoqualmie, national, forest, wilderness, sub, alpine, fern, heather, flowers, bloom, blossom, rocks, talus, field, sun, clouds, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, byway, foliage, snow, sky, stock, bank, forest, trees, meadow, trail, shuksan, glacier, blue, meadow, silhouette, valley, shuksan, trail

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 24mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/11, blended 1/60 and 1/125 second exposures

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Sep.02.2010
Category: Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature
3 Comments - click to comment

Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan

The view of cloud-shrouded Mount Shuksan from a heather-filled sub-alpine meadow at Artist Point, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

As my brother and I came around the corner of this trail along the side of the Artist Point ridge, it took our breath away. I arrived a moment after he did, and found him already down among the heather flowers near the small run-off creek setting up his tilt-shift lens to make a close-up photograph of the flowers with the mountains in the distance. Once he finished, I went to work on this wider view of the scene, including the nearby foreground meadow and flowers, the trees along the edge of the drop-off, the pool of light in the valley beyond, and the shoulder of cloud-rimmed Mt. Shuksan with a dramatic sky beyond.

On a technical note, this was a very difficult exposure. When I looked down at the flowers and plants I saw what you see here, and when I looked up I saw the cloud-filled sky roughly as it appears in this photograph – but the dynamic range was so wide (ranging from parts of the foreground trees in deep shadow to distant snow fields in direct sun) that one exposure could not capture all of the scene data… so I used three which were then combined in post using masked layers and blended manually.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 24mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/16, 1/100, 1/25, and 1/13 second blended exposures

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Sep.01.2010
Category: Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature
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Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point

Ferns grow among the rocks of a sub-alpine talus field at Artist Point, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

New mountains!

I have (barely) visited parts of the Cascades range of Washington, but it was some years ago and I did not make photographs at the time. This past week I finally had an opportunity to do some real photography in this spectacular mountain range when I accompanied my brother (Richard Mitchell to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest where we visited Artist Point, a spectacular sub-alpine ridge located between the peaks of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan.

As a long time “Sierra guy” (who has probably spent a total of over two years of his life on the trail in that range) I compare everything to my “home range.” While the Sierra is (are?) in my blood and that isn’t likely to change any time soon, these Washington mountains have (as Washington residents know) a lot to offer. The first thing that I noticed – though you won’t see it in this photograph – is that you quickly get up close and personal with some very large and impressive ice fields and glaciers. In the Sierra we see small glaciers, but they are tame compared to the hulking monsters of the Cascades. As we approached this area and I caught my first view of Shuksan the glaciers were the first thing that I noticed. In addition, you reach sub-alpine and alpine terrain at much lower elevations than in the Sierra. The 5,000′+ area where we photographed felt like a about 10,000′ in the Sierra.

I made this photograph near the end of our visit to Artist Point, in the very late afternoon as the sun dropped and the light began to warm and back-light these plants. These ferns were growing among the rocks of a talus field alongside the trail.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: washington, state, usa, north american, cascades, mountain, range, ridge, peak, mt., mount, baker, snoqualmie, national, forest, wilderness, sub, alpine, fern, rocks, talus, field, sun, clouds, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, byway, foliage, snow, sky, stock, bank, forest, trees, meadow, trail

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 24mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/22, stitch at 1/60 and 1/15 second

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Aug.31.2010
Category: Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature
5 Comments - click to comment

People Along Manhattan Sidewalk on a Summer Evening

People along the sidewalk along 7th Avenue near Penn Station on a summer evening in New York City.

This is another night photograph made while walking along 7th Avenue around twilight, the time when there is a mixture of dim light still coming from the sky and the garish artificial lights of this urban area. The blue light in this image comes from a nearby blue “marquee” sign that runs along the side of a nearby building and right onto the sidewalk. I was attracted not only by the figures in the scene, but also by the combination of this intense blue light and the “pool” of warmer light that lit the two people.

This and the other photographs made this evening were shot “on the fly” as we walked. In some cases I took the time to raise the camera, compose and shoot – but in others I shot quickly without raising the camera to my eye. This photo is, I believe, in the latter category.

These photographs would have been more difficult to make in the era of film SLRs – not impossible, but certainly challenging. Here I was able to shoot at ISO values between 800 and as high as 3200 and still get decent image quality.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: new york, city, state, manhattan, island, urban, usa, north america, night photography, nocturne, evening, street, 7th, avenue, summer, evening, sidewalk, people, man, smoking, reading, newspaper, window, reflection, wall, pole, 7th, avenue, penn, station, fashion, blue, light, signs, cigarette, stock

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (at B&H)
ISO 800, f/2, 1/100 second

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Aug.30.2010
Category: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street
2 Comments - click to comment

Sunset on Building With Columns, High Line Park

Sunset light illuminates tall columns of the Standard Hotel along the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea, New York City.

This is another photograph from our Friday evening walk along the High Line Elevated Park in Chelsea. We walked under the Standard Hotel, which straddles the park at this point, just as the warm and saturated pre-sunset light was peaking. Given the quality of the light and the beautiful evening, I was surprised that there were no people on the other side of the plexiglas wall – there were certainly plenty of us enjoying the evening along the walkway of the park.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: sunset, dusk, evening, light, reflection, columns, concrete, glass, wall, window, shadow, form, architecture, texture, wall, brick, sky, blue, clouds, lights, lamps, hanging, silhouette, chelsea, high line, elevated, park, walk, chelsea, new york, city, state, usa, north america, manhattan, island, travel, scenic, urban, street, stock, standard, hotel

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II (at B&H)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 75mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/8, 1/400 second

Posted by: G Dan Mitchell on Aug.29.2010
Category: Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures, Photographs: Urban/Street
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G Dan Mitchell Photography

A daily photograph, news, observations, and ideas about photography

Roots and Rocks

Me. With Camera.

Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point

Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan

Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point

People Along Manhattan Sidewalk on a Summer Evening

Sunset on Building With Columns, High Line Park

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