p.1 #1 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
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(I shared this in a comment in another forum, but don't see a way to cross-post a comment and a thread... so I'm sharing it here, too.)
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During the February through April period I had the good fortune to photograph in Yosemite as Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residence, and to be able to produce an exhibit ("Transitions: Winter to Spring — G Dan Mitchell And Friends") that will be at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, CA in June. The show features some of my photographs from the residency, but it also includes work from a group of photographers (and friends) that I asked to participate: Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gibb, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith. (If you are in the Yosemite area, there is a public artist reception at the gallery on June 9 — drop by, see prints in person, and say "hi!")
Living only a few hours from The Valley, I photograph there (and in the rest of the park, and throughout the Sierra) a lot and have done so for years. (I was just up there again a few days ago.) The artist-in-residency gave me a special opportunity, however, as it came with a place to stay in the park. During this period I spent close to a total of three weeks there, in conditions ranging from extremely cold with lots of snow to the first warm, blue-sky days of spring.
So... I have quite a few winter and spring photographs from the park this season. Here are four of the thirteen that will be in the show. The four here were all made during early spring.
p.1 #3 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
A wonderful set Dan. On first impression, I'd say that #3 is my fave, but there are lots of positives in each, so I could see myself picking another as being most striking if I would to view the set again. Congrats on the residency.
p.1 #6 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
ckcarr wrote:
All are excellent Dan!
I always appreciate your natural processing in a world of excess.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
The processing is worth talking about a bit perhaps. First, when it comes to photographs in general, I am definitely not remotely opposed to significant post-processing. My own taste in photography accepts even some sorts of work in post that some might find extreme — as long as it is done for good and honest reasons.
When it comes to landscape photography, I subscribe to what might be regarded as the Ansel School, in which post-processing is an equal partner in the process that begins with seeing the subject, visualizing it as a photograph, and then continues through a post-processing stage the realizes that vision... or, more accurately, refines and sometimes discovers it.
Each of these photographs had to be photographed in some specific ways that considered what I would/could do with them in post, and the final (so far!) versions of each of them rely on a significant amount of work in the post-processing stage to get there.
I suppose that the goal, or at least part of the goal, is to try to find ways to apply those post-processing steps so that they don't draw attention to themselves but instead make the photograph "work."
Of course, being in the right place at the right time, as often as possible, and "getting lucky" with the light and conditions help, too. :-)
p.1 #9 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
Thanks.
That light in #2 was astonishing, and it was also unexpected. My residency provided me with a place to stay in Wawona, and that morning I was on the road toward the Valley well before dawn. From what little I could see, it did not look promising, and as the sky began to lighten a bit I could see that there was a pretty solid overcast — a gray morning was coming.
But as I drove it seemed like it was a bit brighter over the ridges to the east, and by the time I got close the Valley I had reason to think that perhaps the overcast extended west rather than covering everything and that there was a possibility of light in the east. I came down toward the Valley and, in fact, the light was just coming through breaks in the clouds, and what I had thought would be an entirely blah morning turned out to be rather astonishing. For the next hour and a half clouds broke up, drifted, reformed, and light intermittently broke through, casting shafts of sunlight on the mist and the landscape below.
I didn't stay at the first location (yes, Tunnel View) more than a few minutes, leaving to go to this spot where I thought I might find something special and where I made photograph #2 in this set of four.
The lesson learned (and learned, and then learned again) is that it is virtually always best to go out there with the camera, even when things don't look promising. As a photographer friend once said, "There's always something to see," and occasionally something special happens when the conditions look less than exciting.
p.1 #15 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
And thank you. (Just back home from setting up the show today. It opens on Saturday, with the public artists reception a week later on June 9. Anyone planning to be in the Yosemite area? Let me know and I'll share details. The gallery is in Oakhurst.)
p.1 #19 · Photographs from upcoming Yosemite artist-in-residence exhibit
Thanks to all who stopped to look and/or comment.
I intend this to be my final post in this thread, so I'll use it to say that the show opened today. {i}"Transitions: Winter to Spring — Yosemite Renaissance Artist-in-Residence Photographer G Dan Mitchell and Friends" features these four photographs and another nine of mine, along with wonderful Yosemite photography by photographers/friends Jerry Bosworth, Franka Mlikota Gabler, Charlotte Hamilton Gibbs, David Hoffman, Vidya Kane, and Kerby Smith.
The show is at Gallery 5 in Oakhurst, CA, just outside Yosemite NP and it runs through the end of June. If you are in the Yosemite area... there is a free public artist reception next Saturday, June 9 at 5:00-8:00PM, and we'd love it if you would drop by to say "hi" and take a look. I'll be there, along with the other photographers and perhaps a few other special guests.
