All posts by G Dan Mitchell

Photographs: Yosemite

Melting Ice in Alpine Tarn

Leave a comment

FloatingTarnIce2005|07|08: Ice in Alpine Tarn. Yosemite National Park. July 8, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Melting Ice in Alpine Tarn. Yosemite National Park. July 8, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

This little tarn (a small alpine snowmelt pond) sits on a low ridge between Mono and Parker Passes in the Tioga Pass area of Yosemite National Park, very close to the eastern park boundary.

I happened upon this ice formation while walking cross-country between the two passes, and I stopped to take some pictures. I thought of getting out the tripod but was too lazy. That decision is usually a bad one, but not in this case. It turned out that the leftmost piece of ice fell over while I was taking the picture. It isn’t apparent here, but it an enlargement you can just see the blur as it starts to topple.

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sunset at Conway Summit

Leave a comment

ConwaySummitSunset2005|05|27: Sunset. Conway Summit. May 27, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Sunset. Conway Summit. May 27, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved..

Conway summit is the high point on Hiway 395 just north of Mono Lake in California’s Owens Valley. My friends and I had just left a restaurant in Bridgeport and headed south toward Mammoth Lakes. As we came up to Conway Summit the sun was just dropping behind the Sierra crest. I quickly pulled off the hiway just before the summit, grabbed camera and tripod, and jumped out. I squeezed off one image without the tripod as the light quickly faded, then got the camera on the tripod and took a couple more shots as the sun dropped behind the ridge.

This image is the handheld shot that I quickly snapped before taking time to get the tripod assembled and the camera mounted.

I hope to return to this spot in the fall when those aspen groves should be turning golden.

Commentary

Panamint Valley Hills

Leave a comment

PanamintValleyHills2005: Panamint Valley Hills. Death Valley National Park. March 28, 2005. © "Copyright G Dan Mitchell". keywords: panamint valley mountains hills storm clouds death valley national park california black and white photographPanamint Valley Hills. Death Valley National Park. March 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

This shot was taken out in the middle of the Panamint Valley on the road out of Stovepipe Wells and near what I think is called the Panamint Valley Resort. My youngest son and I were on a drive up the east side of the Sierra Nevada after dropping my daughter off at school in southern California. We had spent a good part of the day wandering around the floor of Death Valley in very cloudy and somewhat rainy weather, and we were about to head back toward Hiway 395 by the direct and rather lonely route.

One reason I stopped at this spot is that I had inadvertently spent an entire day here a few years ago. I was a parent chaperone on a week-long trip to Death Valley that involved an aborted pack trip, snow, a dust storm, cold, and you name it. On the last day we headed home from Stovepipe Wells… and the bus blew its transmission at about this spot. We ended up spending the day and a good part of the evening here waiting for a replacement bus. But that is a story for another time.

—–

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mo’s Cloud

Leave a comment
Mo's Cloud
Mo’s Cloud

Mo’s Cloud. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. May 28, 2005. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

We spotted this remarkable cloud while camping in the desert near Mammoth during a Memorial Day ski trip. This portion is the west end of a layered cloud that extended for many miles to the left of what is shown here. I think this is probably what is known as the “Sierra Wave,” a cloud band that is formed by air rising over the Sierra crest.

The title “Mo’s Cloud” derives from the fact that Maureen (“Mo”), a friend and one of our group members, reported that she had watched this cloud for hours as she drove up the east side of the Sierra from Southern California.

Although the layered cloud moved little if at all, it was very windy where we were and the local clouds were moving quite quickly. Timing was everything in terms of getting an interesting pattern of light and shadow in the foreground.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.