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

Tuolumne River, Evening

June 24, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The Tuolumne River flows through the Yosemite Sierra Nevada high country

We had one day in the Yosemite area on the summer solstice, and we made as much of the long daylight hours as we could. We started out very early in the morning in Oakhurst, just outside the southwest boundary of the park, and then headed towards Tioga Pass Road. We took that route through the high country to Tuolumne Meadows, and after lunch we crossed Tioga Pass and headed down to Lee Vining for a brief east side visit.

While we were in the Lee Vining area we began to see interesting clouds east of the range, and it looked like lenticular clouds might form before sunset. That is my cue to find a high place with light from the west, so we headed back up to Tuolumne, stopping a few times on the way there, and finally arriving nearly perhaps an hour and a half or more before sunset. As we followed a trail out into the meadow to find foreground for photographs of the Sierra crest and the clouds I looked back to the west across the twisting river, meadows, and forests to see this scene in evening light.

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

Lenticular Clouds and Ridge

June 23, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This scene was a visual benediction at the end of a very long June day in Yosemite National Park. We began all the way over in Oakhurst, where we had been the previous evening to attend the artist reception for an exhibit at Stellar Gallery that includes eight of my photographs. Afterwards we shared a late-night Mexican dinner with friends and fellow photographers. The next morning we got up relatively early (but not all that early by photography standards!), grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out of town with a general plan to photograph along Tioga Pass Road.

We drove through most of the morning good light as we headed into the park, climbed past the turnoff to Glacier Point Road, descended briefly to the Valley, climbed Big Oak Flat Road, and finally turned east onto Tioga Pass Road. We briefly stopped once or twice along the way, including a bit of photography at Tenaya Lake, then finally stopping at Tuolumne Meadows for lunch. We explored a bit near Tioga Pass before descending to Lee Vining and then making a quick trip up Lundy Canyon before returning to Lee Vining. We then headed back up toward Tioga Pass, timing this leg to arrive back in the high country at the time when shadows would lengthen and the color of the light begin to warm. We photographed a bit just below the pass, but when we noticed a spectacular lenticular cloud building beyond the crest we decided to head to Tuolumne Meadows, where we though the cloud might be more visible and have more interesting foreground. We photographed there until the light left the meadow, and then started to think about the long drive back to the Bay Area. Not more than a couple of minutes down the road we looked back and saw what we sort of expected, namely the intense sunset color on the tops of the ridges of the Sierra crest and the spectacular cloud. We quickly stopped, set up cameras and tripods, and spent a few moments photographing this beautiful final light of the day.

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: England, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Trafalgar Square

June 22, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tourists in Trafalgar Square, London

This is a late photograph post today. It was a busy weekend followed by a busy Monday, and I had no time to post this until evening. The photograph comes from our visit to London a couple of years ago. I’m intrigued by the ever-changing patterns formed by people moving through public spaces like this one. The photograph was made late on a haze afternoon, so the soft light mutes the shadows of the people engaged in activities including walking through the square, watching other people, making photographs, sitting, and more.

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Old Tracks, San Francisco Bay

June 21, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Abandoned railroad tracks on a pier along the shore of San Francisco Bay

I made this photograph of a gray and foggy morning along the San Francisco waterfront, an hour or two before the sunlight began to break through the gloom. I ambled along this area of the waterfront, an area that is rapidly changing as this pressure for growth and upgrading increases here, and I poked my nose into any odd little alley or side-walk that I could find. This one turns out to not be all that obscure, and it even has a relationship to photography.

The old tracks lead out onto the edge of a dilapidated pier. The Bay lies beyond and far in the distance the Oakland shoreline is barely visible.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tuolumne River, Evening

Lenticular Clouds and Ridge

Trafalgar Square

Old Tracks, San Francisco Bay

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