Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Spring Oak, Cliff Face

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Spring Oak, Cliff Face
A spring black oak silhouetted against El Capitan, Yosemite Valley.

Spring Oak, Cliff Face. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A spring black oak silhouetted against El Capitan, Yosemite Valley.

Last weekend we were in Oakhurst, along the southern entrance to Yosemite, for the opening of a show featuring Patty’s flower photography. We were close to the park for days, but on most of them we were occupied with activities related to the show — delivering prints, setting up the exhibit, meeting with others involved in the show, attending the opening. Consequently, while the trip was related to photography… it didn’t offer many opportunities to make photographs. But on the final day of our visit we made a quick loop through portions of the park.

As part of this lightening-speed visit we made among the fastest-on-record visits to Yosemite Valley. Since our main goal was a visit to the high country along Tioga Pass Road, we made a single driving loop through the Valley, likely taking no more than an hour. We paused to photograph in just two locations, including near the base of El Capitan where we photographed the black oak trees with their new spring leaves.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Green and Gray

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Subalpine plants growing on exfoliating granite, Yosemite National Park.

Green and Gray. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Subalpine plants growing on exfoliating granite, Yosemite National Park.

As California confronts increasing drought and rising temperatures, I have come to expect to see hot and dry conditions wherever I go in the state. Last week we spent some time in the “Low Sierra” foothill country, and we experienced just that — a few days of extreme heat and an earlier-than-usual transition from spring green to summer brown in the foothills. But we encountered a few surprises, too, and there were moments that reminded me of how it used to be.

The first was on a short drive up to the 6000′-7000′ range above a foothill town. Here we found plenty of green growth and quite a few wildflowers, albeit earlier than usual in their annual progression. A day later we entered Yosemite and briefly visited the high country. Following three very hot days, it was pleasantly surprising to have rain and cooler weather and to see some flowing water and new greenery, including these plants growing on exfoliating granite at about 8000′.

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

Coastal Rocks

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Coastal Rocks
Rugged and fractured rocks on the California Pacific Ocean coast.

Coastal Rocks. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Rugged and fractured rocks on the California Pacific Ocean coast.

If you have been following along recent youly have likely figured out by now that I was fascinated by this formation at Point Lobos State Reserve. In fact, I was so fascinated by it that I not only turned my attention away from the larger landscape, but I ended up photographing this these rocks from three different angles and positions.

I got up close for this version, setting up the camera just in front of the subject and angling the camera slightly upwards. I found the large patterns of fractured rock interesting, but I also liked some of the smaller features that require a closer look — the odd dimpling effect on the surface of the rock, the bits and pieces of ocean life, and so on. The soft light coming through a deck of coastal clouds helped reveal some of these details.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Ridges and Shadows

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Ridges and Shadows
Morning light creates stark contrasts between ridges and shadows on Death Valley badlands landscape.

Ridges and Shadows. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light creates stark contrasts between ridges and shadows on Death Valley badlands landscape.

Believe it or not, I’m still not quite done with this year’s Death Valley photographs. I’ve been sitting on this one for a week or two, pondering several things about it, but now I think I’m done with it. It may be the final one from this year’s very productive visits to the park. We’ll see! (Looking ahead, there’s a good chance that a year from now I’ll review the files and find at least one more.)

This is perhaps the place to again mention the typical cycle I go through when I return with photographs from a location. I open up the collection, and a few typically jump out at me immediately. These will not necessarily be “the best” of the group, but they are photographs that are fairly straightforward to process and work more or less as I expected when I exposed them. Then I go back through the files and begin to work on likely prospects that will require more thought. (Often the best work comes from this pass.) But this isn’t the end of it, and next I look again, this time trying to see the work with a different perspective. Here I often “discover” how to “see” photographs that did not initially seem like they would work. Finally (or maybe not?) I make one more serious traverse of the work to see what I might have missed. And with that — at least until I come back to the files in a year or so — it is on to new projects!

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 | 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.