Category Archives: Photographs: Yosemite

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

Spring Torrent, Boulders, and Trees

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Spring torrent, mist, and trees, Yosemite.
“Spring Torrent, Boulders, and Trees” — Spring snowmelt swells a rushing creek as it rushes past trees and over boulders, Yosemite National Park.

This is a Yosemite National Park cascade that I frequently photograph – at various times of the year including winter, the spring runoff season, and the much quieter and more sedate autumn time. This creek drops precipitously down a steep mountainside (as a number of Yosemite Valley creeks tend to do!) and passes in several place through narrow, twisting, and granite boulder-filled channels.

I made this photograph at almost right around the peak of the spring runoff during an above-average precipitation year, so the water was roaring though this section. The mist that is visible in the photograph was being blown strongly down the canyon and I had to stand in its flow to make this photograph. I recall that I more or less figured out the composition (two actually – one vertical and this one horizontal) before I moved into position, and then I quickly stepped into the mist and made a series of exposures before I and my equipment became too wet, shooting straight into the blowing mist. Now, when I look at this photograph, the memory of the cool, wet air and the tremendous sound of the cascading water comes back to me.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: People, Photographs: Yosemite

Tenaya Lake, January 2012

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Tenaya Lake, January 2012 - Skaters and walkers on frozen Tenaya Lake, accessible via the still-open Tioga Pass Road on January 16, 2012.
Skaters and walkers on frozen Tenaya Lake, accessible via the still-open Tioga Pass Road on January 16, 2012.

Tenaya Lake, January 2012. Yosemite National Park, California. January 16, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Skaters and walkers on frozen Tenaya Lake, accessible via the still-open Tioga Pass Road on January 16, 2012.

I have been meaning to post this photograph since I made it last month, on January 16, 2012. The serious California drought (or so it seems) of 2012 created very unusual conditions in the Sierra this winter. The Tioga Pass Road (highway 120) through Yosemite National Park usually closes by some time in November, and has been known to close as early as October. The early season this year made it appear that we might have a normal or even heavier than normal winter – early storms near the beginning of October brought a lot of snow to the range and temporarily closed the road more than once. But by December it became clear that this was not going to be a normal year at all, and by the end of the month there was almost no snow anywhere in the range.

A week before this visit I had crossed and re-crossed the pass on a trip to Death Valley. While I appreciated the convenience and shorter drive, I found the odd conditions unnerving. Aside from a few patches here and there, I saw no snow at all, though the seasonal cold had frozen the high country lakes. A week later it looked like a storm or two might finally arrive, so we decided to make the trip up to the Tuolumne area to see the high country in a state that we probably (hopefully!) won’t see again. During the week before this visit, local news stations around California had made this story well known, and they almost all mentioned that people were visiting Tenaya Lake. And, indeed, there were tons of people at the lake when we arrived. There were about as many cars as you might see on an August afternoon. People were clustered along the frozen edge of the lake, were walking along its borders, even setting up tables for picnics on the ice. A few people thought to bring ice skates and they were skating great distances. (Fortunately for us, most people went no farther than Tenaya, and the crowds decreased rapidly after that point.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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: Wildlife, Photographs: Yosemite

Tree Climbing Lesson

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Tree Climbing Lesson - Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.
Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.

Tree Climbing Lesson. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two black bear cubs and their mother climb trees in Yosemite National Park, California.

I was very fortunate to be able to watch this bear family a couple of years ago – and to have a long enough lens to do so without intruding on them. The mother bear seemed to be alternately letting the “kids” play around and do whatever they felt like, and then offering them “climbing lessons” on some of the trees. The cub with black fur seemed the most comfortable at this, quickly scrambling straight up the trunks to surprising heights, moving with agility that reminded me of monkeys. The brown-fur sibling seemed a bit more cautious and “mama” seemed to have to offer a bit of encouragement and support, much as a human parent might do. Her actions at this point reminded me of my own experience with my kids the first time they climbed something (that seemed to them to be) dangerous – I followed close behind with my “front paws” around them, ready to catch if necessary.

While the brown cub initially hesitated quite a bit, before long it also took off and quickly ascended way up in the tree, and before long the whole family was 20 or more feet off the ground.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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.

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

Snowflakes, Grass, and Frozen Lake

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Snowflakes, Grass, and Frozen Lake - Fresh snowflakes among leaves of grass on the frozen surface of Siesta Lake, Yosemite National Park.
Fresh snowflakes among leaves of grass on the frozen surface of Siesta Lake, Yosemite National Park.

Snowflakes, Grass, and Frozen Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. January 16, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fresh snowflakes among leaves of grass on the frozen surface of Siesta Lake, Yosemite National Park.

This past week we had the opportunity to do something that we’ll probably not get to do again – drive over Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park in the middle of January. Until this year, the latest the road had been open was December 31. This year it was still open on January 17, though scheduled to close as I write this. It has been a very unusual weather year in many parts of California, including the Sierra. While the season began with earlier and heavier than usual snow storms way back in early October, this promising start to the snow season was just a tease. A month or so later, the tap was turned off and there was little rain through the end of the calendar year and on into January of 2012.

So with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity about to end with the promise of snow this week, we drove up the night before and then headed over Tioga Pass Road to Lee Vining and back, stopping frequently along the way. The weather in the morning was a bit of a surprise. I knew that a weak weather system – that had not brought any rain – was departing the Sierra, but we were surprised when we encountered very light snow flurries as we drove up Crane Flat Road to the junction with highway 120, and this continued as we started up Tioga Pass Road. When we arrived at Siesta Lake we found it partly sunny but still trying to snow just a bit. I set up to make a photograph of some trees in cloud-softened light, but as soon as I was ready to shoot the light died! I waited for a while, but finally decided that the light wasn’t returning. I decided to wander over to this small lake and see what I could find along the shoreline – and I found these dormant grasses, half-submerged in winter ice, with a sprinkling of snowflakes on the surface of the ice.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer 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.