Pond, Evening Reflection, Peaks. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Evening light on peaks is reflected in a pond on an alpine stream.
Photographers often get to experience evening quite differently from the way typical backpackers do. I know, I’ve done both for years. A typical end of the day backpacking: Get to camp, find spot and set up tent, move gear into tent, set up cook area, filter water, perhaps wander around a little bit, fix dinner, then most likely sit around camp or take short nearby walks until night fall. A typical end of day for backcountry photography: Come back to life in the middle/late afternoon, grab a snack or even dinner, load up pack of camera equipment, head out of camp for some (occasionally distant) location, start photographing, work the scene as the light changes, stay on the move and keep photographing as sunset approaches, a burst of photography at sunset and a bit after, finally photography winds down, walk back to camp in partial or complete darkness, arrive back at camp and perhaps have dinner in the dar,.
In either case there is something — how to describe this? — slow and quiet about the approaching evening and then nightfall. Interspersed with moments of intense photography — after all, the light may change quickly — are longer moments of quiet contemplation. Frequently that is how the photography ends, with that work slowing to a stop I stop and often just stand or sit quietly a bit in the failing light. I made this photograph a bit earlier, as I headed up toward a higher ridge and a lake, but the feeling of oncoming quiet still pervaded the scene.
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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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