Tag Archives: ahwahnee

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

Meadow, Trees, and Cascade

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Meadow, Trees, and Cascade
The view across a Yosemite Valley meadow toward a spring cascade below Glacier Point.

Meadow, Trees, and Cascade. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The view across a Yosemite Valley meadow toward a spring cascade below Glacier Point.

To some extent, this is arguably a “record shot” that documents this year’s extraordinary spring runoff in Yosemite Valley. This winter set records for total snowfall (and snow water content) thought the Sierra, and once spring warmth arrived it began to melt, sending torrents of water downstream. When I visited the Valley in late May, there was water everywhere: meadows had become lakes, trails were flooded, and water was cascading down cliff faces in locations that are usually dry.

This view looks across the Valley to a particularly interesting section of its walls. The main mass of rock is just to the west of the Glacier Point Apron, in an area of fractured rock that drains the watershed above. Typically you might see a small trickle of water here, but at this point there was a full-on stream winding back and forth down this face toward the Valley.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Trees and Boulders

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Trees and Boulders
Trees grow behind a large boulder below Yosemite Valley cliffs.

Trees and Boulders. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Trees grow behind a large boulder below Yosemite Valley cliffs.

This photograph and its companion (to be published here within a day) are both black and white — which I suppose connects to my earliest roots as a photographer. Decades ago when I was a child my father encouraged me and my siblings to make photographs, first using old-school Brownie cameras and later graduating to his loaners. Before long he took us into his home darkroom (a temporarily converted bathroom) and taught us to make prints. He also had a collection of photography books on a shelf that I could reach. The first landscape photograph I recall making — black and white of course — was in Yosemite Valley.

This one comes from my late May epic one-day up-and-back trip to photograph in the Valley. While the best light is early and late, on these quick visits there’s no time to waste, and I keep at it almost all day long. I made this photograph in the mid-afternoon, beneath cliffs on the north side of the Valley. This photograph posed a significant technical challenge, as the difference between the deeply shaded rock face and the brightly lit clouds at upper right was extreme. What to do? Approach like any old school photographer and make an exposure with sufficient image data to bring it to life in post!

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

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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

Spring Trees

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Spring Trees
A rather well-known grove of Yosemite Valley trees, with new spring foliage and photographed from the “wrong” side

Spring Trees. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rather well-known grove of Yosemite Valley trees, with new spring foliage and photographed from the “wrong” side

Near the end of this spring’s Yosemite Renaissance artist-in-residency in The Valley the early signs of spring were appearing — grass was turning green, rivers and waterfalls were flowing, temperatures were rising, and leaves were appearing on the deciduous trees. I photographed this well-known little grove just a few days after the first spring leaves emerged, when they still had that transitory yellow-green color of early spring.

Almost anyone familiar with Yosemite Valley will know immediately where this grove is located. This photograph was not made from the typical direction — and you may be able to spot the reason it isn’t photographed as often if you just look closely. A careful scan of the scene reveals the presence of a roadway! That is often a complete show-stopper for photographs like this one, but I liked the backlit tree against that darker forest enough to give it a try in this case.

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

Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening

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Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening
Evening light on Yosemite Falls and meadow trees

Waterfall and Trees, Spring Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on Yosemite Falls and meadow trees

I have had my eyes on this composition for some time. The photograph is, in many ways, a pretty straightforward thing, and it certainly doesn’t require any logistical difficulty or long hikes. However, there are a few variables in play that are not entirely under the photographer’s control, and timing is critical — as to the season, the time of day, and the momentary conditions. The green of that group of trees is briefly at its most intense for a period in the spring. As in so many photographs, the momentary effect of light is critical and ephemeral. Two days earlier I had photographed this same scene, with results I liked but not as much as what happened here.

Speaking of that earlier photograph of the same subject, I had not made a firm decision to re-photograph the scene on the evening when I made this version. I was thinking about several potential subjects on this final evening in the Valley for this trip, but it was the infamous Yosemite Valley traffic that put me here at the right moment. I had parked in a day use lot while I went on an afternoon hike, returning to my vehicle in time to finalize my evening plans. The traffic was completely stopped due to the combination of large numbers of spring visitor and construction work to the west. So I headed across the Valley and back to the east, looping around towards this spot. Some distance away the traffic stopped completely once again, so I simply pulled to the side, loaded my equipment on my back abandoned (temporarily!) my vehicle, and started walking. I could see good light ahead through the trees, but as I arrived some clouds blocked it. But since I wasn’t going to have much luck trying to drive elsewhere I simply decided to stick around and watch. Eventually there was a short break in the clouds, and a brief moment of lovely light illuminated these trees. And then the show was over.

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.