Shoreline Meadow, Unnamed Lake. Kings Canyon National Park, California. September 14, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Granite boulders line a small rock-filled meadow near the outlet of an unnamed sub-alpine High Sierra lake, Kings Canyon National Park
This is, to say the least, a complex photograph. I am well aware that it violates all of the “rules,” especially those that suggest that a photograph should have a clear central subject. While that is often fine advice – and I often try to use a single aspect of a larger subject to say something about the larger whole – I think that in some cases it may be fine to use a photograph to portray things that are not quite so simple, and subjects or scenes where the core nature of the thing is, in fact, its overwhelming complexity of detail and form.
This was clearly a very detailed scene, and it embodies an important aspect of the character of these high sierra areas that sit just below timberline in the sub-alpine zone. While there is an order to this environment, it is not a simple order and many components work together in complex ways. I made this photograph at the outlet stream of this nameless lake, located at the 11,000′ level a very short distance from our camp. On this morning the lake’s waters were very still, reflecting the rocky surrounding terrain. (The only simple thing in this scene is the bit of reflected sky at the lower right.) The bit of foreground meadow has taken on the late summer and early fall golden and brown tones, and its surface is interrupted by embedded rocks that become more numerous near the lake’s edge and in its outlet stream. The rest of the landscape is largely one of rock – massive chunks of rock such as the dome-like feature along the far shore and the rounded and rugged shapes of the slopes above, along with fractured and shattered talus slopes composed of rock that has fallen down from the peaks above. Aside from the meadow, the only plant life visible in this landscape consists of scattered trees growing among the rocks and small clusters of alpine willows.
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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Sean and Joshua, thanks to both of you for taking a look and commenting.
This is about the complexity of the scene. A year or so ago I realized that I was sometimes limiting the aspect of certain subjects that I would attempt to depict, sticking to those that are a bit easier to make work. I first thought of this in regards to Death Valley. While we often see (and photograph) beautiful and colorful aspects of that landscape, the truth is that much of it is low contrast and not very colorful. Yet I find those very places that I wasn’t photographing to be compelling and beautiful. So I started thinking about how I could photograph those non-obvious subjects.
I can’t say that I’ve completely figured it out just yet. It is partly a matter of trying to see the complexity for what it is. I think that photographs like this – if they are to work – also probably need to be printed quite large.
In any case, it is a thread in my work that I’ll continue to pursue until I figure out where it leads.
Take care,
Dan
What I this says to me — and I say this with deep awe and respect for a successful photograph — is “you had to be there”. It’s complex. It’s deeply complex. But life in this location is complex and all of these details are interconnected. There’s not the one subject; rather the complexity IS the subject. To wrap your head around the complexity you have to be sitting in that grass quietly and experiencing more than the view.
Yes, break the rules when the situation calls for it. I love this.
–sean
The clarity of the reflection creates a mess when framed like this. At a glance, you can’t distinguish which one is the real thing and which one is the reflection.
See that “puddle” on the bottom right? I think I may like this shot better if the water on the lake looked more like that puddle. So I’d probably lighten up the reflection (make it fuzzier).
But, meh, this shot probably looks phenomenal in print.