Photographs: Nature

Cascade, Detail

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Cascade, Detail
An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

Cascade, Detail. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine Sierra Nevada stream rushes over rocks and boulders.

These little cascades are among the most characteristic features of the Sierra Nevada high country — that region close to and above the treelike dominated by open views, rocky terrain, and (during the summer) the water from melting snow. Such streams range from barely-flowing rivulets to features large enough to qualify as creeks — but they are all rather small at these elevations, and they often take circuitous routes across the alpine landscape. Their scale invites close inspection, perhaps hoping across on rocks, stopping to admire plants and flowers on their fringes, and pausing to take in their sound.

This stream could be almost anywhere in the Sierra high country, but in this case it was perhaps less than five minutes walk from where we base-camped for a week of photography near the end of August and the beginning of September. We established a camp with water on all sides — a lake wrapping around us to the south and west, and flowing water in the remaining directions. As I write this in December, I’m thinking about how much different this landscape looks right now!

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: Central California, Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature

Three Trees, Fog

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Three Trees, Fog
Three trees on a foggy Central Valley late-autumn morning

Three Trees, Fog. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three trees on a foggy Central Valley late-autumn morning.

This group of trees, and especially the central one, have gradually become “old friends” of mine when I photograph in California’s Great Central Valley each winter. (If you photograph frequently in a favorite location, I’ll bet that you have some similar personal favorites!) Every time I pass by here, coming around a particular curve in the road, I spot the first tree and begin considering how it relates visually to the elements behind it, primarily including the other two “mirror image” trees.

The conditions in the photograph are fairly typical of late-autumn up and down this great valley, which stretches hundreds of miles from the southern end (where roads lead over mountains to the LA Basin) to the north (where Mount Shasta looms). When the conditions are right (or “wrong” if you live out there and it is the thirtieth day of them!) the damp air is very still and tule fog forms. This fog is dense but not deep — you might not be able to see more than a hundred feet in front of you but you can look up and see the sun or stars. The fog completely transforms this landscape, eliminating the sense of grand space and scale and instead producing a sense of intimacy and mystery.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm

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Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm
An incoming Pacific weather front darkens the skies above Big Sur coastline headlands.

Headlands, Incoming Autumn Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An incoming Pacific weather front darkens the skies above Big Sur coastline headlands.

This location is both a rather famous one (or, perhaps more accurately, right beneath a famous one) and typical of many of the more dramatic sections of the California coastline. I am very fortunate to have been brought up close to the center of this geography, and I can head north or south to find many such places where the ocean and the land meet in such an impressive fashion. Here the Pacific runs right up against coastal cliffs rising to headlands, with narrow beaches and rocks marking the margins of the continent.

In most cases I might try to photograph this scene in different sorts of light — perhaps the bright early morning (when the cliffs are still in shadow), the evening when sunset light hits the coast directly from the west, or in dramatic fog or clouds. But those conditions were not to be seen on this late-autumn day when an incoming Pacific weather front was covering the sky in a thin shield of clouds. In my view, these conditions also bring a special sort of light, with the diffusive effect of the clouds revealing subtler color and filling in and lighting areas that would otherwise be in shadow.

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: Night

Holiday Lights, Tree And Wall

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Holiday Lights, Tree And Wall
Holiday lights attached to a tree in front of a brick wall.

Holiday Lights, Tree And Wall. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Holiday lights attached to a tree in front of a brick wall.

Happy Holidays to you and your friends and family!

This may seem like (once again!) a somewhat unusual image for this time of year, but its source was in a visit to a Christmas event at a local historical location featuring impressive gardens decked out in holiday lighting and a huge mansion that is now a more or less public space. While the photograph is black and white, I like to think that the conjunction of light and dark is a feature of this winter time of year.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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