Category Archives: Photographs: Yosemite

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

Forest, Early Evening Light

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Forest, Early Evening Light
Soft, early evening light on forest trees in the Tuolumne River Dana Fork drainage

Forest, Early Evening Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft, early evening light on forest trees in the Tuolumne River Dana Fork drainage

It was evening, and I had stopped in a familiar location along Tioga Pass Road between Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, a place where the terrain opens up a bit to offer broader views back to the west and up toward the highest peaks in the area, and above which a rugged peak of fractured granite and talus rises. It is also a place where I can almost always spot deer late in the day.

I made a few photographs of the higher peaks and ridges, then turned my attention to photographing forest vignettes using a long focal length lens. In many places the light was difficult, as it almost front-lit the trees in the most obvious direction. As I paused and looked around I first noticed a skeletal dean tree near this spot and started to pay more attention to the forest itself. It was softly lit by light coming from a cloudy sky, and there was enough diffused light to open up the forest shadows just a bit.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

River and Forest, Evening

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River and Forest, Evening
Evening light along the shores of the Tuolumne River

River and Forest, Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light along the shores of the Tuolumne River

There are many little rituals that I have developed around making photographs. A few may be mine alone, but I have learned that others also engage in some similar processes. One has to do with the first photographs of any adventure. While sometimes a photograph simply leaps out at me, on other occasions it may take a while to get “warmed up” and start seeing. You have a choice — you can wait for inspiration to strike (sometimes for quite a while), or you can “prime the pump” and start making photographs. I generally prefer the latter.

On this trip I had arrived at my Tuolumne Meadows campsite in the afternoon. I set up camp, did a bunch of the usual camp stuff, then took a nap in order to compensate for getting up hours before dawn for the drive. Then I took a camera-free hike up to Elizabeth Lake. And, yes, once I got there I did regret leaving my camera gear behind! Returning from the hike, it was time to make a quick dinner and go start making photographs. I wandered out into the meadow and made a few quiet images of meadow, river, and forest… and the trip was officially underway.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

From Meadow to Ridge

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From Meadow to Ridge
Sierra Nevada forest blankets slopes leading from Tuolumne Meadows toward cloud-backed alpine ridge

From Meadow to Ridge. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada forest blankets slopes leading from Tuolumne Meadows toward cloud-backed alpine ridge

This scene is along the edge of Tuolumne Meadows, where a very large subalpine meadow system filled with boulders and domes is surrounded by forest interspersed with more granite intrusions and eventually rising to some very high peaks. I tend to be more aware of the non-forest elements here, but when I stop to pay attention to the trees I am always impressed by their extent as they rise toward the higher slopes.

But this photograph is, I think, really about the light. It was late in the day, and thunderstorm clouds had been building since the morning. They had peaked, and by this time there was a bit of clearing and light began to come into the scene through the openings in the clouds. Here the foreground forest is in the open light, while the distant ridge, being closer to the crest, was still receiving broken light.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Slabs and Domes, Clearing Storm, Evening

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Tuolumne Meadows in evening light as afternoon storm clouds begin to clear

Slabs and Domes, Clearing Storm, Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tuolumne Meadows in evening light as afternoon storm clouds begin to clear

This was an evening of dramatically evolving light, alternately brilliant and blah! Thunderstorm weather in the Sierra is such a tricky and transitory thing, and there are frequent swings from “meh” light to astonishing light. When the storm conditions are at their peak, the light can be very flat and “gray,” with little contrast — and it can be a challenge to find ways to make effective photographs. (Not impossible, mind you… just challenging!) But these conditions often bear the seeds of remarkable and dramatic light, especially as the storms begin to clear. Breaks in the cloud cover often send beams of light — frequently warm, saturated golden hour light — across parts of the landscape, and this light may highlight specific features against a backdrop of contrasting darker scenery and dramatic clouds.

These effects can appear (and disappear) quite quickly, and landscape photography in these conditions becomes anything but a leisurely and meditative process. In fact, it is more a matter of “photograph now or it will disappear!” In truth, things happen so quickly that they often disappear before there is time to set up a camera and make a photograph. The light on the foreground meadow and its protruding granite slabs and boulders came in at a low angle from the west, here more clearing was taking place. I was fortunate in that it not only highlighted the foreground formation but also lit up the more distant granite domes, which stand out against their darker surroundings.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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