Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fractured Granite, Reflections

September 23, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 8 Comments

A few days ago I returned from a 9-day trip into the back-country of Kings Canyon National Park. I was one of a group of four photographers who traveled to a remote location at about 11,000′, where we remained for more than five days, photographing the surrounding terrain morning and evening. We followed the common routine of such work – up before dawn and off to investigate and photograph some valley or lake, back by mid or late morning for breakfast, generally hanging out and doing camp chores during the midday period when the light is often less exciting, then back out in the late afternoon for a few more hours of exploration and photography before returning to camp for a post-sunset dinner. Unlike a typical backpack trip, where one rarely stays in the same place for long, we remained in the same camp for six nights, allowing us to really get to know the surrounding area very well.

With so much time, we were frequently able to return to places that we had already visited – perhaps coming back in the evening after a morning visit, returning to try again to catch a subject that didn’t have the right light the first time, or shooting the subject in various conditions ranging from clear skies to rain. This bit of interesting rock was next to a lake that I walked to on a number of occasions, and on this morning I arrived when the lake was still in shadow but illuminated by light reflected from nearby rock faces. Because it was so early the air was very still, allowing me to photograph this very sharp reflection of the fractured granite cliff where it entered the water. A bit of vegetation just above the waterline has taken on early fall colors.

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

Dome and Meadow Trees

September 21, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Beams of sunset light, shining through breaks in clouds, momentarily illuminate Tuolumne Meadows trees and the granite slopes of Lembert Dome

This is a sort of companion photograph to one I posted earlier that was taken at about the same time, but more tightly composed and focusing on just the shoulder of Lembert Dome and the slopes of Mount Dana beyond. This was one of those Sierra evenings that started out with very mediocre light, but which also held the potential for something special to happen if things were to play out just the right way. Due to a wildfire over the crest near Mammoth Lakes, the sky was quite hazy. A high layer of clouds added to the gloom. I had spent the early evening trying to find some way to photograph these conditions, but was coming up short.

Not too long before I made this photograph, I had seen the gray murk suddenly lit by the warm glow of light coming underneath the edge of the high clouds far to the west as the sun dropped toward the horizon. This is not an uncommon event when the conditions line up correctly in the high Sierra, but this time it was a bit different due to the haze. The light, which might otherwise have been so colorful and bright as to almost be beyond belief, was instead muted and softened, though no less warm. A few minutes before I shot this image, the scene had been quite different – the sun had been behind those high clouds. But as I watched this it looked to me like the sun might find its way through a gap in the clouds, so I was ready to swing my camera to the east and capture Lembert Dome and other features in this light. Here that warm evening light glances across the face of the dome and softly lights some trees at the edge of the forest around Tuolumne Meadows.

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.

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

Dogwood Thicket and Forest, Evening

September 9, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Blooming dogwoods among the conifer forest in evening light, Yosemite National Park

Among photographers and others who watch the seasons change in the Sierra, the spring blossoming of the Yosemite Valley dogwood trees is an important indicator that winter is over, spring is here, and summer cannot be far away. At the right time, in many locations in The Valley these flowers can bloom profusely, and this year’s bloom was exceptional. However, many who focus their visits on the brief (a week or two?) bloom in Yosemite Valley may overlook the beautiful though perhaps a bit different bloom that continues in the higher country.

I was in the Valley on this early May day for various reasons, but as evening approached I decided to drive up out of the Valley to a particular little tree-filled Valley where I often stop – in spring for the dogwood flowers and in fall for the autumn colors of these trees. I arrived during the hour before sunset when the late sunlight still shines over the top of a low ridge to the west and filters through the mixed forests to backlight the thickets of dogwood trees growing among the more typical forest trees of the area, and I spent the evening quietly looking and walking among the trees of this little section of forest.

(Note: This photograph was made in late spring, but it appears on my blog in early September… following the gigantic “Rim” fire in the vicinity of the northwest boundary of Yosemite National Park. From what I can tell from the fire maps on the Internet, there is a possibility that these trees are now gone, though I have not had a chance to check yet. They are/were on the west side of the road that formed one of the fire breaks, so I’m hopeful that they might have been saved. I’ll know soon.)

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Wildlife

Grazing Deer, Evening

September 6, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

A huge herd of deer grazes in evening light at Tuolumne Meadows beneath Lembert Dome and Mount Dana

This evening started out looking like it might turn out to be a photographic bust. I had been over near Mono Lake earlier in the evening where smoky haze from a forest fire to the south along the eastern slopes of the Sierra was making photography a bit challenging. I did manage to get a few interesting images of the lake, but as the sun started to drop behind the Sierra crest to the east, things began to look very murky. I decided that I might just have enough time to get up and over the crest to where it was possible that the air might be a bit clearer, since forest fire smoke can be somewhat localized and varies a lot depending upon the wind. Crossing Tioga Pass, high clouds and more smoke continued to make the possibilities seem less than promising. This was one of those times when there was a temptation to just head back to camp and kick back for the evening. But I virtually never give in to that, so I continued on down Tioga Pass Road toward Tuolumne, hoping that something might change with this light. In fact, aside from the haze, this evening was a candidate for one of my favorite of all Sierra light shows that can happen when the cloud deck ends somewhere to the west, and the descending sun briefly shines under the clouds for a few moments right before sunset.

I got my first hint without warning. I had pulled over at a spot where I could see higher peaks to the southeast, thinking that I had seen a subtle glow on the shoulder of one far off ridge – but by the time I got the camera and tripod set up it was gone. Somewhat frustrated, I took down the equipment, got back in the car, started driving… and literally 30 seconds later the light suddenly came under the clouds and bathed the entire scene in warm colors. I did (another) quick u-turn and went back to the spot I had just left and made a few exposures. However, in this light I started thinking that interesting things might happen in Tuolumne Meadows, so I headed on down that direction to find interesting but unusual light. The warm color was certainly there, but the haze was muting the intensity of the light and softening distant features. With the idea of photographing across the meadow from the west end, I drove on… and soon saw that largest herd of deer that I can recall ever seeing here. I’ve often seen groups of perhaps a half-dozen or a few more, but here there were dozens. (In fact, I can count at least three dozen in this photograph, and it doesn’t include all of the critters that were in this herd.) So, as the nearly-gaudy glow of the last cloud-filtered light came to the meadow, I photographed this herd with a long lens, positioning myself so that I could place barely lit Lembert Dome and the summit of Mount Dana behind the animals.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fractured Granite, Reflections

Dome and Meadow Trees

Dogwood Thicket and Forest, Evening

Grazing Deer, Evening

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