Monthly Archives: November 2007

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

Branches and Clouds, Merced River

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Branches and Clouds, Merced River
Branches and clouds reflected in the surface of the Merced River

Branches and Clouds, Merced River. Yosemite National Park, California. November 4, 2007. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branches and clouds reflected in the surface of the Merced River

This photograph was taken along the shore of the Merced River near the “housekeeping” camp along the south side of the Valley. I had wandered over here to photograph a tree on the opposite bank that had dropped an interesting bunch of colorful leaves. (That photograph turned out to be, I’ll be honest, boring… ;-) As I got ready to take down the tripod and leave I noticed this interesting bunch of partially submerged branches along the waterline.

I recently (May 2015) reworked this photograph, and I like the newer interpretation quite a bit more than the original. Here there are “three worlds” in the photograph — the solid material of the branches and their crisp reflections in the water, the barely visible branches beneath the water’s surface, and the very light reflections of sky and thing clouds.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Yosemite

Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge, Autumn

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Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge, Autumn. Yosemite National Park, California. November 4, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Yeah, it has been done before – but it is sure hard to resist photographing a scene like this one. While I would usually try to get to a spot like this in early or late light – late would be better here, I think – this photograph was made close to the middle of the day. (As a matter of fact, a late-in-the-day photograph of this scene is in the queue and should show up here soon.)

Ideas

Standing in the Same Spot

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Inge Fernau posted a comment on one of my earlier photos – a shot of Lee Vining Creek. She included a link to her version of this scene, and it is kind of scary to see how similar it is. Follow the link to my original post to see what I mean.

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.

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

Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Fog

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Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Fog. Pescadero, California. November 17, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell

Shot last night at the annual Pigeon Point Lighthouse open house. Although the historic fresnel lens lighting system was turned on, the fog came in and obscured the view.

A little background and story about this photo. As posted a few days ago on this web site, I had heard about this event by way of a post at Andy Frazer’s Night Photography Blog. Based on what I read and saw there I was interested in photographing the interesting star-like pattern of the old lighthouse fresnel lens.

When I arrived at Pigeon Point last night several things caught me by surprise. First, I had no idea that this event was such a big deal! There were hundreds of cars parked in every direction: along highway 1 both north and south and on side roads. The CHP had set up flares and was directing traffic. There were people everywhere. I also didn’t know until later that the evening event is not the whole show – special activities were scheduled at the lighthouse throughout the day.

As I drove up the coast from Santa Cruz, I was impressed by the colorful post-sunset sky. Yes, it was quite clear. Although I could see a distant fog line far offshore, Monterey Bay was completely clear and it was almost as clear along the coast. Until about a quarter mile before the lighthouse, that is. A dense line of fog had moved in almost right at the lighthouse – so my plan for a clear shot of the lights was no longer going to work.

I set up just a bit south of the lighthouse on a low bluff – along with quite a few other people – and made a few test shots. (It can be difficult to compose a night shot like this since you can’t really see everything in the dark and gloom, especially with the fog so thick.) In the end, I got one photograph that I like, the one posted here.