G Dan Mitchell | Photography

Stovepipe Dunes and Funeral Mountains. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the Stovepipe sand dunes in morning light with the Funeral Mountains in the distance. Death Valley National Park.

This is another of the “long lens landscapes” that I’ve been experimenting with recently - this one having been shot with a 400mm lens.

keywords: stovepipe, dunes, wells, funeral, mountains, morning, black and white, death valley, national park, shadow, angle, sand, desert, ridge, peak, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, california, usa

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.30.2008 :: Photographs: Death Valley :: No Comments »

Since I post a new photograph daily, some foresight and planning is required to keep the “tap turned on” at this site. Obviously, I have to do a lot of photography, both in the field and at the computer during the post-processing stage. In helps that I can queue up photographs ahead of time. During certain times of the year when I can’t get out as often I may may be posting as little as one week before the photographs appear. At other times I have a much larger line-up of photographs ready to go and “pre-posted” to appear later.

Right now is one those times when there are quite a few photographs in the queue - more than a month’s worth actually. Reasons include the fact that spring is an exceptionally photogenic time in my area, the fact that I’ve made several recent photographic trips, and the nature of the images that I’ve been doing recently.

This week the photographs from my early March visit to Death Valley came up in the queue, and there are quite a few others in that series coming up next. There is also a large series of spring wildflowers and related subjects that is in line after the DV photographs. This past weekend I spent a day photographing in Yosemite Valley - and those photos will come to the site in early June. (If you just can’t wait, many of the upcoming photos are already posted in my Gallery and in my Flickr stream.)

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.29.2008 :: Commentary :: No Comments »

Death Valley from Aguereberry Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of the early evening view of Death Valley from Aguereberry Point as the shadow of the Panamint Range begins to extend across the Valley.

Aguereberry Point provides an astonishing viewpoint over Death Valley and a 360 degree panorama that extends to the southern Sierra Nevada range.

keywords: death valley, national park, aguereberry, point, panamint, mountains, range, evening, shadows, panorama, landscape, scenic, travel, california, usa, stock, view, desert, ridge, peak

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.29.2008 :: Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert :: No Comments »

Stovepipe Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and Morning Clouds. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Stovepipe Wells Dunes, Tucki Mountain, and morning clouds, Death Valley National Park, California. After shooting early farther out in the dunes, I encountered this scene while starting my hike back to my car.

It is interesting to note the number of ways in which this photograph was the result of serendipity. First, I went to the back side of the dunes rather than the more typical sections. Second, I had pretty much finished my shooting (yeah, right!) and was heading back to the car. Third, I just happened to wander up on this particular dune - almost didn’t go there at all. Fourth, the light was nothing like this when I first saw it - this section was mostly in shadow. Fifth, those wonderful clouds that mirror the texture of the dune surface just happened to float into the scene as the light came across the top of the dune to illuminate this section of the sand.

(This photograph brings to mind an Ansel Adams quote: “Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” Adams also offer a critique of God: “Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships!” ;-)

keywords: Tucki, mountain, sky, clouds, stovepipe, wells, sand, dune, peak, desert, morning, ripples, death valley, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, black and white, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.28.2008 :: Photographs: Death Valley :: 3 Comments »

Panamints to the Sierra, Evening - Aguereberry Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Looking northwest across the Panamints toward the Sierra Nevada crest at sunset from Aguereberry Point, Death Valley National Park, California. Entirely apart from any photographic merits, being alone on top of this very isolated point thousands of feet above Death Valley as the sun set was an amazing experience.

keywords: aguereberry, point, sierra nevada, range, panamint, sunset, evening, golden, mountains, ridges, valleys, color, death valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, travel, scenic, wilderness, desert, alpine, silhouette, stock

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.27.2008 :: Photographs: Death Valley :: No Comments »

Spring Oak Leaves. Calero Hills, California. March 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Some people might say I shouldn’t admit it, but there was an element of serendipity - actually, I made a mistake - in this photograph. (Some who imagine that all photographs should coalesce in the photographer’s mind in their final form before the shutter is clicked won’t want to hear about this.) I was working with a long lens and wide aperture to narrow the depth of field. My plan was to shoot the colorful foliage in the foreground and throw everything beyond out of focus. I set up, let the camera autofocus… and it focused on the “wrong” branches - the branches that are in focus in this shot. “Wait a minute,” I thought, “I kind of like the way that looks!” Instead of an in-focus foreground with everything else OOF, the middle ground is in focus and objects closer and farther away are OOF. It ended up being my favorite version of this scene; I like it more than the shot I was planning on.

keywords: spring, oak, tree, branches, leaves, bright, colorful, yellow, green, calero, santa clara, county, park, california, usa, nature, stock, landscape, morning

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.26.2008 :: Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature :: No Comments »

A New York Times review by Virginia Heffernan comments on the development of a so-called Flickr aesthetic.

There is something to this, for better or for worse. Clearly, certain types of photographs that “work” on photographic social networking sites like Flickr (often images that work well in thumbnail-sized electronic version, presented by photographers who are adept at the social networking business) are often quite different from images that might work as prints in a gallery or other venue.

I found one interesting irony in the article. The author seems to describe the Flickr photography in somewhat condescending terms, often suggesting - and not always without reason - that the photographers are naive. The irony is that, for all of the author’s knowledge of artistic issues, she seems equally naive about several aspects of the Flickr phenomenon, digital photography and post-processing, and other more modern developments.

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.25.2008 :: Commentary, Ideas :: No Comments »

Into the Surf. Pacific Coast, California. March 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

In early March I headed out to the California coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz for an afternoon of random coastal shooting - I was probably thinking seascape, hoping for some interesting fog and clouds, but I stumbled across a large group of wind surfers just north of the coastal town of Davenport.

keywords: California, Ocean, Pacific, Seascape, Water, waves, Wind, windsurfing, Winter, sea, surf, spray, chop, swells, windsurfer, person, sports, stock, usa, outside, adventure, outdoor, board, mast

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.25.2008 :: Photographs: Ocean, Photographs: Sports :: No Comments »

Actually, it is almost always a good time to photograph in Yosemite Valley if you know where to look and what to look for, but one of the most interesting times is beginning right about now. The winter snows are melting in the mountains above the Valley and the waterfalls are increasing is size - not only the big falls that everyone recognizes, but also many of the smaller seasonal falls that are fed by melting snow in the lower-elevation areas immediately around the Valley.

The spring growth is also beginning to come in. The dogwood trees of the Valley are a favorite subject, and the are - according to my experience and reports I’m reading - just beginning to blossom. The peak will likely occur between the end of this month and early May. Meadows that are brown for much of the year - including the peak summer season - are turning green and will continue to do so during the coming weeks.

While Yosemite Valley is no longer anything like a wilderness - there are people and cars there in all seasons - the big late spring and summer rush is not on yet, and you can enjoy some relative calm in the Valley still. This is especially true if you don’t follow the crowds to the usual spots and if you get up early - which you do if you are a photographer, right?

UPDATE: Thank you, Edie, for leaving a comment with first-hand information. Edie lives in The Valley…

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.24.2008 :: Commentary :: 2 Comments »

Trees in Mist, Motherlode Near Drytown. Sierra Nevada Gold Country, California. March 29, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Trees in the mist on a wet spring morning in the Motherlode near Drytown, California. This was photographed on a drive up some very lonely and narrow back roads above Highway 49 in Amador County. I only exposed four frames in this challenging weather, but since two of the four turned out to be interesting I’ll console myself with a 50% success rate. :-)

keywords: California, Cloud, Foothills, gold country, Grass, Landscape, Meadow, Morning, Mountain, rain, Rock, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Travel, Tree, mist, fog, drytown, motherlode, gold country, highway 49, usa, scenic, travel, nature, stock, silhouette, green

G Dan Mitchell :: Apr.24.2008 :: Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada :: No Comments »