In another installment of the interviews with photographers whose work I admire, I’m happy to feature my interview with California-based artist G. Dan Mitchell. I first saw his work on Flickr a couple of years ago, and have since followed his stream, and his blog on a regular basis. Dan and I had a chance to shoot together out in Mare Island last year, and I was impressed with how thoughtfully he approaches each photo. Dan’s main subject matter is very similar to mine, as he loves shooting nature and architecture, but because Dan shoots so much, he shoots other subjects too.

I love two things about Dan’s work. First, he produces a lot of photographs. He posts photos to his Flickr account and his blog on a daily basis. He shoots all over SF Bay Area, south of here in Carmel, Pt Lobos and Big Sur, and north of the Bay in places like Muir Woods. He also goes on several photo trips during the year. This dedication helps him produce a large body of work every year, and his top pictures of the year sets are always one of my favorites (see the ones for 2009 and 2008).  Second, he has a unique style to his photos derived from his vision and from years of shooting. When photo thumbnails from my contacts on Flickr come up on my screen, I can easily spot Dan’s work.

With that, here is the full interview where Dan talks about his love for the medium, the interplay between music and photography in his life, about how he manages to find new photos to share every day and about his favorite photographers and photo tools.

Tell us about how you started in photography.

My Dad gets the credit for starting me and my siblings in photography. He was a talented and enthusiastic amateur photographer who had a bunch of camera ranging from an old Graphlex to an early Kodak Retina Reflex 35mm camera. I still have an old Rollei 35 of his. When we were young he got us each an old box camera, gave us a bit of advice, and let us shoot. He also had a home darkroom, and it was a great privilege when he took us into it to help him develop prints.

My interest continued and I was in the high school photo club. While I did the usual stuff – photographing football games, etc. – I also was aware of landscape and nature photography and I recall exploring certain landscape subjects and even doing some Weston-style (though not Weston quality!) photographs of various objects. Before long the photographic interest became tied up with my passion for the Sierra Nevada and for years I carried 35mm gear on long pack trips. Eventually, I began to feel that the photography interfered with the backpacking, skiing, and climbing and I did less and less photography. That all changed in the last decade when the digital revolution rekindled my interest in the medium.

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If you have a moment, check out an interview I did with guys at Caliber SF, new blog with San Francisco street and documentary theme that a group of photographers recently launched. They’ve interviewed me about my photography, about how I learn and how I keep myself motivated and about a couple of my favorite shots. Please make a jump here.

On a personal note, if you are not yet reading that blog on regular basis, you should. The pictures and passion of these guys are captivating and motivating for me. I visit their blog regularly – when it comes to San Francisco, these guys capture its true spirit. I was able to shoot with Troy Holden and Stuart Dixon on several occassions, and it’s been a blast.