Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Into the Kaweahs

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Into the Kaweahs
The High Sierra Trail on the approach to Kaweah Gap, Sequoia National Park.

Into the Kaweahs. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The High Sierra Trail on the approach to Kaweah Gap, Sequoia National Park.

There are some backcountry adventures in my future this summer. One involves setting up a Sierra backcountry basecamp for some serious wilderness photography. Another is a shorter trip with a group of friends that I’ve joined for backpack trips for decades — since before 1990. One way I get myself in the right frame of mind for these trips is by revisiting earlier adventures. Recently I’ve been looking over a collection of photographs from a major trip that I did with the latter group a decade-and-a-half ago. This photograph comes from that trek.

Back then we managed a few quite long trips — up to a couple of weeks. This trip lasted about a week and a half as we backpacked the High Sierra Trail from west to east, concluding with a Mt. Whitney ascent before exiting at Whitney Portal. There’s some significant up and down on the route — it crosses the rugged Kaweah range, drops deep into Kern Canyon, and then climbs again to cross Whitney Trail Crest. This photograph is from the spectacular climb toward Kaweah Gap from the west. (If you look very closely you may be able to spot one of my fellow hikers.)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Moving Water

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Moving Water
A small wave crosses kelp and sand in shallow water at the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

Moving Water. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A small wave crosses kelp and sand in shallow water at the Pacific Ocean shoreline.

This is the second of a pair of somewhat abstract water photographs I made on a quick visit to the California coast last week. I just had a few hours, so I went up the coast from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay, then over the coast range and returned to Silicon Valley. It was an “extremely typical” day in this part of the world, by which I mean that the conditions were “typical” (cool and foggy) for this time of the year, but even more so to the point that I encountered coastal drizzle heavy enough to feel like rain.

I paused at one overlook high above the Pacific, hoping to photograph pelicans that often coast past on updrafts from the incoming ocean winds. I just missed oen flock as I arrived, but I quickly attached the long lens and… waited… for the next flock… which never showed up. Since I had that lens on the camera I decided to point down rather than up and photograph the shallow water at the edge of the ocean far below.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Trees, and Mountains at Dawn

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Lake, Trees, and Mountains at Dawn
A quiet morning at a High Sierra backcountry lake in Sequoia National Park.

Lake, Trees, and Mountains at Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A quiet morning at a High Sierra backcountry lake in Sequoia National Park.

As is often the case, one thing leads to another, and I sometimes end up in a place I did not anticipate. I saw a question online about a particular sort of landscape subject, and I immediately thought of a photograph of mine that was related to that discussion. But after finding my photograph and thinking how it might inform that discussion… I decided not to share it. But looking for that photograph sent me back into an archive of photographs from a wonderful trans-Sierra pack trip I made almost fifteen years ago — and that’s where I found this photograph. (Perhaps not surprisingly, I’m now revisiting that entire archive!)

That trip was a wonderful one. A small group of friends(1) spent almost two weeks on the trail, crossing the range from west to east. On such a long trip some days are devoted to just moving onward toward the eventual goal, and this was one of those days. We selected this camp location because it was conveniently located along our route. This lake is not what I regard as an alpine spectacle — instead it is a quiet place, and a fine spot to just slow down for a moment. I was up early the next day to photograph the first light on nearby peaks in the morning quiet.

1 — Bonus photo! Here’s a picture of our little gang on the summit of Mount Whitney near the end of the trip.

Talusdancers on Mount Whitney, 2008
The Talusdances on the summit of Mount Whitney, August 11, 2008. (L-R: Ernie, Caroline, Owen, Emily, Steve, Dan)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Monterey Cypress, Fog

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Monterey Cypress, Fog
A gnarled Monterey Cypress tree tops a rocky promontory on a foggy morning and Point Lobos.

Monterey Cypress, Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A gnarled Monterey Cypress tree tops a rocky promontory on a foggy morning at Point Lobos.

Finally, this should be the last in the four-photograph series of images that focus on this gnarled and weathered tree standing on top of a rocky prominence along the exposed north shore of Point Lobos. The tree is always impressive, but I was fortunate to catch it on a morning when persistent coastal fog was thinning and creating glowing light that was just slightly directional.

Of the four interpretations of this scene, this one fits with the earlier portrait-mode version as one of the two most conventional views. In both cases the tree is clearly the primary subject, more tightly framed in the portrait mode interpretation and including a bit more background in this landscape mode version. (The other two used wider formats and included additional elements of the larger scene — a clearer view of the white rocks and cormorants in one case, and some nearby trees in the other.)

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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