Induro Blog

G Dan Mitchell is a music professor by trade, but boy can he make a beautiful photograph. A fan of Induro tripods and the great outdoors, Mitchell has made the most of America’s west coast landscapes, and regularly returns to Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada and Death Valley to document nature. He’s also great at talking about his work. He was kind enough to answer my questions. Enjoy!

-

I love that you are so drawn to the beauty of your surroundings. Of course, you do live in one of the most naturally beautiful areas of the world. Where exactly did you grow up, and was it formative in the way you now work as a photographer?

Although I was born in Minnesota, I’m a “virtual native” of California, having lived here since I was four years old. My family spent a good amount of time in the outdoors. Some of my earliest memories include frequent trips to the redwoods and the seashore, along with visits to Yosemite and Tahoe. My father was a serious photographic hobbyist and introduced me and my siblings to photography at an early age, so we always considered photographing our adventures to be a natural thing.

I consider myself very lucky to live in an area with so many wonderful photographic subjects close by! I’m within driving distance of the coast redwood forests, the Pacific coastline between Point Reyes and Big Sur, the beautiful inland valleys and hills, and the “urban landscapes” of the San Francisco Bay Area. I can get to Yosemite and a good chunk of the Sierra in a few hours. (I’m somewhat notorious for occasional driving and photography marathons that may take me over the Sierra crest and back in a single day.) I’ve backpacked throughout the Sierra for decades – I know some areas so well that I recognize specific rocks and trees!

As well as I know many of the features of this state, I still discover new sights and learn new things every year. It was only a short time ago, relatively speaking, that I finally got to know Death Valley. Despite decades of visits to the Pacific Ocean coastline, it is only within the last few years that I came to know and become interested in photographing the marine wildlife, and I’ve recently developed a passion for photographing the redwoods.

I’m drawn to your Death Valley imagery- how often do you return to shoot there? What causes these rock tracks?

Thanks! Death Valley National Park presents an astonishing terrain filled with an immense variety of compelling photographic subjects – the vast space and distances, the intimate canyons, high ridges, sand dunes, tough plants and animals, and surprising signs of humans ranging from native artifacts to mines and ghost towns.

I visit Death Valley at least once per year, generally taking about a week each spring – right before the weather becomes unbearably hot.

The rocks you mention are the famous “moving rocks” at the Racetrack Playa. I’ve been there a number of times – I often plan visits to coincide with a full moon. I stay on the playa from late afternoon through the following morning since the most interesting photographic opportunities tend to come at the very early and late hours, and I try to do some night photography there as well. One of my favorite photographs is “Two Rocks, Morning – Racetrack Playa.”

After shooting the previous afternoon, evening, and into the night I got up before dawn and headed out onto the playa – I was the only person there! The winds were howling and it was cold and overcast. I wasn’t optimistic about photography, but soon the clouds began to break up in the gale, and their shadows raced across the playa – it was a “landscape in motion!” I set up a shot with the two rocks and just as the light came over the tall ridge to the east it illuminated the tracks of the nearest rock as the patterns of light and shadow sped across the landscape.

I’ve written a description  of my experiences shooting at the playa that includes some information about the “moving rocks.”  Read it here. Having visited and come to know that place, the theory that makes the most sense to me involves a flooded playa and very cold temperatures that freeze the rocks into floating surface ice that is then blown around by the strong winds that are often encountered out there.

Do you make a living as a photographer?

I have a “best of both worlds” career. I’ve been a music faculty member at a Bay Area College for decades – yes, I have extensive background in music! I love teaching and I love music… and I love the security of that job and the flexibility it gives me to pursue my own specific photographic interests without having to photograph anything but the subjects that I’m passionate about. (There is a long tradition of musician-photographers – or is it photographer-musicians? – including some guy named Ansel…)

It may seem odd in a time of digital cameras and web imagery – and coming from a photographer who frequently writes and post photographs on the web – but my primary interest is in making prints. My photographs have also appeared in various media including book covers, magazines and periodicals and web sites.

What’s your traditional gear set-up– when did you switch from film to digital, and was has your experience been with Induro tripods?

I shoot with a couple full-frame DSLR bodies and a mixture of zooms and primes, almost always from the tripod. The precise setup varies depending upon subjects and where/how I’m shooting. For urban landscape and street photography I might go out with only one body and a single prime, but when doing car-supported landscape photography I often carry “the kitchen sink.” Since I do a lot of backpacking and hiking photography I have figured out how to work with a 12-15 pound minimal setup that I can carry on long high country backpack trips.

I shot film for many years, dating all the way back to when my father taught me to print in our “bathroom darkroom” at home. I eventually moved to 35mm equipment and for many years shot with a couple lightweight bodies. Beginning around 2000 I started to experiment with digital, at first using an early 4MP jpg-only camera that was essentially a glorified point and shoot. I photographed a 3-week, 1100 mile bicycle trip through Alaska and the Yukon using this primitive gear. Since then I’ve been all digital.

A few years ago I was in the market for a new tripod that would do double-duty for hiking use and more heavy duty use. I was considering the “usual suspects” when I read Michael Reichmann‘s positive report on his use of an Induro tripod in Antartica. Intrigued, I found a local dealer who carries Induro and spent some time handling some of the larger models and comparing to other brands before settling on the Induro C313. I added a ballhead to create a reasonably light setup that supports my large lenses. As soon as I got the tripod I headed off on a  Death Valley trip – including a Racetrack Playa visit and shooting in a sand storm – and its performance was excellent. My C313 has since held up to extensive and heavy use in all sorts of circumstances including being lashed to the outside of my backpack. (I now have my eyes on one of the newer and slightly smaller models for backpacking use.)

ed note: see the new and improved Induro CT313.

Are there any spots you return to again and again that are just incredibly special, or one shot that rises for you above all others?

Yes, indeed, there are quite a few! Although I don’t just shoot the same subjects over and over, there are some subjects that I revisit on a regular basis. I spend a few weeks on the trail in the Sierra every summer, and I have a standing appointment with the eastern Sierra aspens near the start of October. (Fall is my favorite time to shoot in the Sierra.) I love shooting the Pacific coast duding the late fall through early-spring months when Pacific storms create a wide range of dramatic conditions. And every spring I head back to Death Valley.

What will you be up to in 2010?

Besides the usual stuff, I have a few new plans – some more certain than others. I am going to continue some work I’ve done recently in the coastal redwoods, especially at Muir Woods, and right now I’m shooting Pacific coastline as winter begins. I have a project in mind  to photograph brown pelicans this winter and spring and probably beyond. I’m also starting to have a serious desire to get back to Alaska for some extensive shooting – possibly this coming summer but certainly within the next few years.

See many, Many more beautiful images on Mitchell’s site.

Today we are lucky to have a highly interesting interview with Nelson Chan, folks. Chan has been steadily making personal projects that deal with his heritage and relationships. Also he loves Induro! Without further ado….

Nelson Chan

I love the way your heritage informs your imagery- with your photographs in China,  your Feng Shui-inspired pictures, and especially your portraits. How has your identity shaped your practice, and do you have difficulty bridging the gap between the two cultures?

Heritage and identity definitely inform the work that I do, and to a certain degree, I can say that they are usually the underlying crux of where my imagery comes from. At first, I never considered these concepts to be a part of my vision; it wasn’t until after college when I started to figure it all out. The past 3 1/2 years were spent traveling between New Jersey, Hong Kong, and China; photographing an ongoing project about my family titled, ‘my Da Lu’. During this time I never felt more mentally alone and it was because of this that a sense of self-recognition occurred with the work that I was making.

from the project ‘my Da Lu’

from the project ‘my Da Lu’

from 'portraits in China'

from 'portraits in China'

Though there was always a cultural connection with what I was photographing, I wasn’t interested in bridging the gap of my two identities as Chinese/American. It took me a very long time to understand that it’s the ‘gap’ itself, where I exist, which interests me the most. Children of immigrant parents always end up having an identity crisis and it’s this tension that creates a yearning to belong to something. This sense of longing has become what heritage and identity mean in my work. Knowing that I will never be 100% to the right or left of this cross-cultural spectrum has given me a lot of comfort and inspiration. Studying the differences rather than the commonalities seems to be more interesting to me.

Your stark, face-on portraits are really wonderful. They remind me a bit of Richard Renaldi’s work.  I’m especially drawn into the frame when you are shooting someone with whom you’ve had a relationship of some kind. How did you start making portraits, and what do they mean to you?

It’s funny you should say Richard Renaldi. I just had lunch with him and his partner Seth. In regards to the portraits of people who I have relationships with, the environment is always something that is important to me. Like how clothing can inform one’s own personality, their personal space does the same either physically in the picture or emotionally in the expression of the subject’s body or face. They become more comfortable with themselves and in turn, let me be a little more interactive with them. I’ve brought a few people to specific locations, but they are always of places that inform who they are to me.

from 'for the love of...'

from 'for the love of...'

from 'for the love of...'

from 'for the love of...'

I always took portraits because I’m attracted to people, but by nature, I’m an extremely shy photographer. A lot of times, the portraits were very fleeting. It wasn’t until I started shooting with a view camera that I was directly sitting down with my subject for a prolonged period of time. There are a lot of pictures I missed and wish I took; photography has introduced both regret and courage into my life quite well. The only way to combat my shyness is when regret is pounding stronger in my gut. I’ve compared making these portraits to asking someone out on a date. So I guess you can say that the portraits I take is the product of a feeling I decide to confront. I hope that answers your question.

Tell me a bit more about the Feng Shui series. These homes are all in violent areas? How did you find them and shoot them? They’re so stark, and make me want to know their stories…

My series, ‘Wind, Water, and Bullets’ came about from my mother, who is a practitioner of Feng Shui,  and an article I read about a violent neighborhood on Staten Island. In this project, I wanted to talk about issues of violence in our society, but didn’t want to be extremely heavy handed or clichéd with my imagery. All the images were taken with an 8×10 view camera so that the owners of the homes knew what my intentions were. Smaller cameras can seem to feel a little sneaky.

from 'wind, water and bullets'

from 'wind, water and bullets'

from 'wind, water and bullets'

I met the owner of the first house I photographed at a friend’s wedding in Iowa. Their home was located in South Central, LA, where I was also staying as a guest. The house is alongside a park that turns into a very dangerous place at night. My first night sleeping there was filled with anxiety, but to feel this was imperative to the project, so I could understand the environment better. A bullet had entered one of the rooms in the upstairs portion of the house in the past. And shortly after I left LA, a nextdoor neighbor whom I had conversed with was shot and killed on the street. He was 24.

Void of artificial light, when looking at these interiors, I decided that I wanted to photograph towards the daylight that was entering through the windows. I want to use the flare of the sunlight to occupy the same space that a potential bullet could pass through. This created a certain dynamic between safety and danger in the photograph on a subconscious level.

What projects are you working on now, and what’s in store for you in the future? Are you able to make a living as a photographer at this point? Do you ever shoot for clients, or do you generally make personal projects?

I am still working on the current projects talked about above, but not shooting any new ones at the moment. I am however still making new pictures that don’t yet belong anywhere. My next move is to make a book dummy of ‘my Da Lu’ and figure it out as a sequence of images. I do not make a living off of being a photographer at this point, but I do make a living in the photography industry. I manage a fine art printing studio in Brooklyn, NY called Ken Allen Studios. I’m a highly skilled and competent craftsman specializing in inkjet printing. Before this, I was freelancing as a digital consultant/technician to artists. This past spring, I along with my friend Gerard Franciosa of My Own Color Lab, I carried out the scanning and digital post-production to photographer, Gina LeVay’s debut monograph from Power House Books,  Sandhogs. Though I’m not opposed to photographing commercially and would welcome it, the most important thing for me is to continue working on personal projects.

from the project ‘my Da Lu’

from 'portraits in China'

What has been your experience with Induro tripods? Is there a specific model you’re a fan of, and why?

The camera has become a tool to help position myself in the world. It makes me interact with the environments I am in and gets me thinking about my relationship with what was in front of my lens; whether it is a person or a place. Though my vision is what ultimately makes me an artist, the tools that I use are what carry out that vision. In regards to extensive traveling and shooting with an 8×10 field camera, I appreciate a tripod with three leg sections for set-up speed and weight. With these specific guidelines, the CT313 has been a great performer for me. It’s extremely stable and I can easily extend the bottom sections and raise the center column to quickly have the camera be at the perfect height. If I need to have a higher vantage point, I can easily extend the second leg sections. The foam grips are also much welcomed because it really helps to ease the handling of my 8×10. With shooting a view camera, the legs it sits on is just as important as the lens or any other component and the CT313 is it.

-

Thanks, Nelson!