Tag Archives: light

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Stairway

Leave a comment
Blue Stairway
A blue stairway in a softly lit alcove

Blue Stairway. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue stairway in a softly lit alcove

In contrast to much of what I have recently shared, this photograph is not a landscape. Or perhaps it is. OK, it is. I think of photographs like this, at least to some extent, as being “urban landscapes.” In many ways (but not all) I see them in ways that are similar to how I see landscape. I’m looking for form and composition, color, effects of light, some sense of the feeling of the place, and often a quality of stillness. I also think that these photographs, like some of my personal favorite landscape photographs, attempt to look at a familiar place in an unfamiliar way. For example, there is almost nothing in this photograph to tell you that it was made in San Francisco, not far at all from some rather iconic views.

Despite the similarities to my landscape photography, there are also some obvious differences. The distinctly non-natural subject is one obvious clue. Perhaps less obvious is that these photographs are not made in the usual natural landscape manner, relying on tripods, remote releases, and sometimes plenty of time to think and consider. Instead, these are virtually always shot handheld with a small camera. I’m generally on the move when I photograph these subjects, typically pausing only long enough to frame and trip the shutter, and then I continue along. In fact, I barely broke my stride as I passed this scene and made this photograph.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest Scene

Leave a comment
Forest Scene
The trunks of tall conifers trees in afternoon light

Forest Scene. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The trunks of tall conifers trees in afternoon light

I had initially stopped near these trees to photograph an entirely different subject in the opposite direction, behind my position as I made this photograph. I spent a good deal of time on that other subject, but in the end it didn’t (at least not as of this date) end up seeming to “work” quite the way I envisioned. As I finished I saw this row of strong, side-lit tree trunks and thought it might make a photograph. Ironically, I almost didn’t both — at first the light wasn’t remarkable, and I knew that I had photographed similar subjects in the past with success. I wasn’t sure that this version was going to work.

But, this being a cloudy day in the Valley, the variable light began to play on the trees, alternately lighting them and putting them in shade. At the same time, the variability extended to the complex pattern of more distant forest. I’m always intrigued by the challenge of making a workable composition out of very complex and “busy” subjects, and here the momentary light makes all the difference. (And, yes, I do seem to be in a bit of a “black and white mood” with some recent photographs. Maybe this is to balance out some of the other highly colorful images.)

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Light, Haze, El Capitan

Leave a comment
Morning Light, Haze, El Capitan
Beams of early morning sunlight pass through haze to illuminate El Capitan

Morning Light, Haze, El Capitan. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beams of early morning sunlight pass through haze to illuminate El Capitan

I’m coming to think of the start of this particular day in lower Yosemite Valley as being “Bierstadt Day.” Albert Bierstadt was a landscape painter who made several notable renderings of Yosemite subjects in the 1800s, paintings that perhaps formed the image for the park for many who saw them. They are not “realistic” in a photographic sense, but tend toward exaggerating features and using dramatic effects of perspective, atmosphere, and light. When I see Bierstadt paintings I often think both of how they evoked the wonder of seeing remarkable places like Yosemite Valley and of how flexibly and subjectively he treated these subjects. I also think about how little they look like the literal place, as least in objective sense.

However, at certain moments, the quality of light and atmosphere came close on this morning. The morning began inauspiciously, and in the pre-dawn light I could tell that it was cloudy and gray. However, as I approached the Valley from Wawona there were breaks in the clouds. Arriving at my first clear viewpoint, the iconic tunnel view (where I usually wouldn’t stop on my way into the Valley), the view included the usual Valley features, layers of drifting clouds and mist, and beams of colorful light playing across this landscape. I put a long lens on my camera and began to follow the changing conditions, picking out small sections of the grand view that seemed most interesting. At the moment of this photograph (and, indeed, the light lasted only a moment) sun beams broke through the clouds and moved in front of the face of El Capitan.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

El Capitan, Morning Light and Clouds

Leave a comment
El Capitan, Morning Light and Clouds
Clouds and mist shroud El Capitan shortly after sunrise

El Capitan, Morning Light and Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds and mist shroud El Capitan shortly after sunrise

This morning was (yet another) lesson about not making assumptions too quickly, and about being ready to react quickly to changing conditions. I was up well before dawn and after coffee I quickly packed and headed out the door to my vehicle, ready to start the drive from Wawona to The Valley. There was enough light to get some idea of the conditions, and they did not warrant much optimism — the sky was completely covered by clouds, and as I drove they seemed to be getting thicker to the west, suggesting that they were increasing rather than thinning. As I continued to drive, crossing the road’s high point before descending toward Yosemite Valley, the light began to suggest the possibility of breaks in the clouds to the east. Sure enough, as I got my first long view of The Valley, there was open sky in that direction. What had promised to be dull and gray was starting to look more like their could be potential for special atmospheric conditions.

I made a few quick photographs at this first viewpoint and quickly moved on, driving through Wawona Tunnel and existing to the famous view of the Valley. Typically there are very few photographers here in the early morning — the opposite of the typical evening crowd — but the unfolding light show caused some of us to pull up short here and make some photographs. At this point I rarely do “the shot” of the full Valley scene in anything short of astounding conditions, preferring instead to focus on smaller components of the grand scene. As I photographed with a long lens, light appeared and disappeared, clouds drifted, beams struck isolated elements of the landscape, and there were bits of visual drama everywhere.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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