Trees, Snowy Ledge. Yosemite Valley, California. February 25, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Trees grow on a snowy ledge below Glacier Point
The cliffs and spires of Yosemite Valley — and not necessarily the most iconic among them — fascinate me. While there is only one Half Dome, there are uncounted intimate vignettes of ridge, ledge, spire, light, texture, color, and atmosphere everywhere, where the cliffs meet the canyon floor, up these giant walls, and along the rims of the Valley. The variety is astonishing — something that is uninteresting in one kind of light may glow in another, what appears as a featureless face in summer may acquire relief when there is snow, changing light color brings colors out of what might otherwise seem entirely gray.
In February a spent a couple of very early (and very cold!) mornings contemplating one specific area of the Valley, staring upwards as the bluish pre-dawn glow was transformed as light came to the sky and then as beams of sunlight slanted across the granite faces and ledges. On both mornings I photographed this subject — a pair of taller trees flanked by smaller trees and brush and a dead snag, and set against a particularly varied bit of cliff texture and color.
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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