My landscape photography often involves what might be described as hunting. I look for the potential of good light conditions and for locations with subject and compositional promise and then I… hunt. I wander, I go with hunches. I use what I know about light and terrain — but often I very much do not set out with a specific photograph in mind. This photograph was not made that way.
There is an area along the Tuolumne River where the water flows briefly in a more or less straight east-west line. At one gentle curve boulders and riffles break up the flow, and in the background forest trees frame views of the Sierra Nevada crest. I planned to photograph there in the evening, so in the afternoon I walked out there and scoped out compositions. Then I returned to camp for an early dinner. Perhaps an hour and half or so before sunset I carried my gear back to this spot, made some final compositional decisions, and then I waited for the light to change, not knowing exactly how it would play out. Clouds promised the potential of sunset and twilight color, but they can block the light, too. But then, just before sunset, the light came under the western clouds and lit up the peaks.
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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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