Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Photographs from Northern California

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Oaks, Spring

March 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Spring green comes to the oak-covered hills of Northern California

After all of these years, I’m still amazed by the arrival of California’s season of “impossible green,” when in late winter the grasses that are so dry and brown for much of the year erupt into a lush green that blankets the hills. When summer visitors express surprise at California’s dry summers, I always want to say, “Come back in March!”

I headed out on this morning for several reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to hike a bit. But I also wanted to do a bit of wildflower reconnaissance. (The quick report: In the place I visited the biggest wildflower show is yet to come.) In addition, I wanted to see what this year’s rainy winter has done to a landscape that has been very, very dry for half of a decade. For the first time in years, there was water everywhere. Water was flowing out of every little valley and alluvial hillsides were sponge-full of water that is leaking out the bottom. After so many dry springs, I think I actually enjoyed having to work my way around ponds of muddy water and occasionally slog right through the mud!

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Snowy Ledge

March 4, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The cliffs and spires of Yosemite Valley — and not always the most iconic among them — fascinate me. While there is only one Half Dome, there are uncounted intimate vignettes of ridge, ledge, spire, light, texture, color, and atmosphere everywhere — where the cliffs meet the canyon floor, up these giant walls, and along the rim of the Valley. The variety is astonishing — something that is uninteresting in one kind of light may glow in another, what appears as a featureless face in summer may acquire relief when there is snow, changing light color brings colors out of what might otherwise seem entirely gray.

In February a spent a couple of very early (and very cold!) mornings contemplating one specific area of the Valley, staring upwards as the bluish pre-dawn glow was transformed as light came to the sky and then as beams of sunlight slanted across the granite faces and ledges. On both mornings I photographed this subject — a pair of taller trees flanked by smaller trees and brush and a dead snag, and set against a particularly varied bit of cliff texture and color.

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.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

The Shadow Line

March 3, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The boundary between morning sunlight and shadow traverses granite slabs

These slabs on the lower face of the Glacier Point apron always attract me, especially in the morning. I go way back with them — many years ago when I was, for a short time, a budding rock climber, we climbed on them, testing the limits of our trust in friction. Today, when I’m in this section of the Valley early in the morning, I always watch for the arrival of the first sun on the slopes.

I was in a cold meadow before sunrise on this winter morning. Soon the first light began to touch the cliffs along the north side of the Valley, and then trees along the upper rim near Glacier Point picked up the light. It worked its way slowly down the immense face, and the light final streamed through gaps behind Half Dome and slanted across this slope and revealed the cracks and scallops on the weathered granite.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dormant Oaks

March 2, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Winter-dormant oak trees in Yosemite Valley

Many things characterize Yosemite Valley. To a first-time visitor the cliffs, famous prominent peaks, and waterfalls are the main attraction — and the most common subjects of photographs. Spend a bit more time there and your awareness of other things increases: the river and its many tributaries, the forests and meadows, the boulder piles along the edges of the Valley. If your visits encompass more than one season your conception of the place expands to include not only the sunny summers but also the colorful autumn, the cold and occasional snow of winter, and the water-everywhere season of spring.

For me the oak trees are a big part of what makes the Valley the Valley, from their brilliant new growth in late spring, through autumn’s color change, to their bare and skeletal winter forms. I was photographing something else in one of the Valley’s meadows early on this morning, at a time when the first light was just beginning to touch the upper rim. I took a short break from my subject and just looked around, spotting this dense and detailed by of oak branch texture, form, and color nearby.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Northern California

Oaks, Spring

Trees, Snowy Ledge

The Shadow Line

Dormant Oaks

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.