Tag Archives: photography

Photography Gear For Travel

This is the time of year when people plan their summer travels. Recently I’ve noted people trying to figure out what gear will work for photography while traveling, what kind of camera and what lenses to take. What is the best approach? Take the whole kit? Just use your smartphone? Get something special just for travel photography?

I do a fair amount of travel photography, and I wrote an article sharing some of my ideas: Travel Photography Gear. Click the link and take a look!

Je Suis Bleu, Paris
“Je Suis Bleu” — Sidewalk, graffiti covered wall, and women (virtual and real) on a Paris street

A starting assumption: There is no one “right” or “best” approach to photography while traveling, and what works for me may be far from ideal for you. It depends a lot on your goals and the role photography plays in your travels. The article explores some of the options and variables.

I’m hopeful that this article may help you figure out what will work for you.


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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

IBIS Does Not Replace Your Tripod

Recently I have heard some photographers suggest that IBIS-equipped cameras have made tripods obsolete. IBIS is a fine thing, but that overstates the case.

Photographer Patricia Mitchell
“Photographer Patricia Mitchell” — Photographer Patricia Mitchell at work in early morning autumn light in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Contemporary cameras incorporate remarkable advances in camera and lens image stabilization. Some newer cameras with IBIS (In-camera Image stabilization) claim to extend the useful range of shutter speeds for handheld photography by as much as seven stops.

IBIS can be very useful for photographers who shoot handheld. I do urban night street photography using a handheld, IBIS-equipped camera that supports high ISOs — and I can capture subjects that would have been just about impossible to photograph a few decades ago.

Continue reading IBIS Does Not Replace Your Tripod

2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs

G Dan Mitchell's 2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs
“G Dan Mitchell’s 2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs” — 16 photographs that almost made it into G Dan Mitchell’s 2025 Favorite Photographs.

Each winter I go review the year’s work and select a set of “annual favorites.”I enjoy reviewing all of my photographs each year, but it is difficult to winnow them down to a manageable 12 to 16 images. As I created my 2025 Favorite Photographs I had to make hard decisions near the end of the process, and inevitably some photographs I liked were left out.

So this year I’m trying something new: I have assembled this set of 2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs, selected from those I like that did not quite make the cut for my the 2025 Favorite Photographs.

Why didn’t they make it? I photograph a variety of subjects — from landscapes to travel to street photography. Since I want to include multiple genres I must eliminate photographs of one type to make room for others. Sometimes the issue is that I have a lot of photographs of certain subjects. For example, this year I had many photographs of trees and desert landscapes, and I couldn’t include them all.

With this in mind, here’s a set of 2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs that didn’t quite make it into the final set. Continue reading to view them individually below and then in a gallery at the end of the article, where you can click on an image to view the set as a slideshow.)

Continue reading 2025 (Almost) Favorite Photographs

2025 Favorite Photos

Here is a collection of some of my favorite photographs from 2025. Assembling annual collections gives me a opportunity to get a better overview of my work over the longer term. The project also jogs my memory and gives me a chance to relive memorable experiences from the past year.

Here is a set of thumbnails of the selected photographs. You can pick the image for a better view of the set, but continue reading to see larger versions of the photographs read more about each image.

2025 Favorite Photographs
A set of G Dan Mitchell’s favorite photographs from 2025.

I prefer the term “favorites” over “best” since I’m not really able to know which are best — that’s a subjective thing, its not entirely my decision, and it changes over time. But right now, I can say for sure that these are among my favorites.

Choosing the set is challenging! Near the end of the process I must eliminate photographs that are also favorites in order to keep the collection to a reasonable size. (Perhaps I’ll share some of the “(Almost) Favorite Photographs” in a separate post!)

I choose the final set from among all of the photographs that I shared on this website during 2025. The majority were also photographed during 2025, but a few are photographs “captured” earlier that I finished working on this year.

The final set includes diverse photographs since I photograph a wide range of subjects. Some of you who follow my landscape photography may not know that I also do travel and street photography, that I sometimes include people in my landscape work, or that I do some macro photography. So I select a set of favorites that includes examples from various genres. They also come from throughout the year and from many different places — the mountains, the desert, wildlife refuges, American and foreign travel, my local neighborhood.

Continue reading to see larger versions of the photographs and to read more about them. (Click photo titles below to see their original posts. Click on the photographs to view them larger.)

Continue reading 2025 Favorite Photos