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

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light

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Lake, Ridges, Evening Light
Lake, Ridges, Evening Light

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light. Yosemite National Park, California. September 4, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mountaintop trees stand above a sub-alpine lake, dome, and ridge in evening light, Yosemite National Park

In early September — before the big fire not far from here — I was among a group of photographers who spent a bit more than a week in the Yosemite back-country chasing late summer subjects in the Range of Light. The rough outline of the adventure was that the group packed in to a remote lake with expansive views, stayed there for about five days, then adjourned to a nearby area at a lower elevation for a few more days before heading back out. The “Meadow Fire” between Clouds Rest and Mount Starr King started late in our trip, but this photograph was made a few days earlier when skies were still beautifully clear.

Days on this kind of trip revolve almost completely around photographic opportunities. By staying on one place for a few days we are able to explore our surroundings more extensively and get a better idea of the prospects for photographs and the best times to make them. A typical day begins very early in the morning, when we arise quietly before sunrise and head out in various directions, goals in mind. After a few hours of photography the light becomes a bit less interesting and we reassemble in camp for breakfast. After that we have a few hours of mostly non-photographic time — for lunch, for camp chores, reading, and even a nap. Dinner comes early, with preparations starting around 3:00, and a few hours before sunset we head out once again. On this evening I chose to climb a nearby ridge of granite slabs and glacial erratics where stubborn trees find a living in cracks in the rock overlooking a nearby lake and one of the main ridges of the Yosemite back-country.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist 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

Pine Tree, Granite Slabs, Evening Light

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Pine Tree, Granite Slabs, Evening Light
Evening light rakes across stained granite slabs and pine trees

Pine Tree, Granite Slabs, Evening Light. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light rakes across stained granite slabs and pine trees

I spent the first ten days of September in the Sierra Nevada back county of Yosemite National Park, with a wonderful group of friends and photographers who share a long love affair with the Sierra in general and with this park in particular. Lucky me, and lucky us!

Near one of our camps there is a large bowl of glaciated granite slabs, stained with red mineral tones and marked by water flow and seepage lines. Such slabs are not only among the primary visual markers of the Yosemite Sierra, but they are places of incredible diversity if you look closely. The rock varies from flat or sculpted glacial polish to fractured and exfoliated slabs. Wherever there is a crack or a bit of organic material has collected, small plants and hardy trees take root. And the light plays across this terrain in myriad ways. Here the final moments of evening light glance across the granite and bowl and a small tree.

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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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Locations, Morning Musings

Sierra Fall Color Speculation (Morning Musings 9/14/14)

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Aspen Color, North Lake
Aspen Color, North Lake

For those of us who chase aspen color in the Sierra Nevada every fall, speculating about the potential of the upcoming aspen season is an annual obsession. Will the season start early or late? Will the colors be spectacular or less so? How will the past season’s weather affect it? What are the early signs telling us? When will the peak arrive and when will the show be over?

I’ve been playing this game — with enthusiasm! — for some years now. A few years back I think I finally figured out that I cannot really tell what will happen until it actually happens. As often as not, my “predictions” turn out to be less than perfect and/or immediate conditions (arrival of an early storm, wind, rain, etc.) throw me a curve.  The real game is in being flexible and quick to respond to evolving conditions, and to have enough experience with the subject that you have some intuitions about what to do when you encounter the conditions on the scene.

Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra
Early Autumn Snow, Eastern Sierra

Yet, I still can’t help but look at Sierra conditions here in September and try to extrapolate forward a bit. As I make my guesses — and frankly, guesses is what they are — about the upcoming Sierra aspen season, a few things are on my mind: Continue reading Sierra Fall Color Speculation (Morning Musings 9/14/14) →

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Streetlamp, Bridge, Buildings

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Street Lamp, Bridge, Buildings
Street Lamp, Bridge, Buildings

Streetlamp, Bridge, Buildings. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Elements of downtown Chicago architecture

And now, a new subject for me: Chicago. I had been there before, but on other business, such as attending conferences in the downtown area, but this August was my first opportunity to photograph there. Midway through our train trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to New York City, we paused in Chicago for a couple of days. I can’t say that I “know” Chicago yet, but I can say that I’m starting to understand and like the place. (Though our impressions may have been skewed more than a bit by being there while the streets were filled with “Lallapaloozers.”)

From this and earlier visits, I’ve come to partly think of Chicago as being like New York, but with more space and light. I think that this is one reason that I found myself so often photographing juxtapositions of Chicago’s tall buildings and the way light and reflections play across them — the larger space between them and the more open light make this possible. This photograph was made from a boat (the “architecture tour,” if you wondered) as it passed beneath of the many bridges across the Chicago River. The basic elements of the photograph – a bridge, a street lamp, and the surfaces of tall buildings — seem to characterize the place for me.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist 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.

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