This spot and this view have long intrigued me. The lines and curves lead from the shoreline forest at left, past that talus-covered slope on the right, across the water to another peninsula, and finally to the massive face rising beyond. The personality of this view can change remarkably — I’ve photographed during storms, under the full moon, in direct sunlight.
Continue reading Soft Light, Ellery Lake
There’s a story and a lesson associated with this photograph. Explaining may take a bit more than the usual two paragraphs. (It takes five. I urge/invite you to click through and read the whole thing — and I’ll be interested in your comments.) I’ll start with the subject though. Years ago (I’ll reveal how many years below) I was on a trans-Sierra pack trip of over a week’s length with a group of backcountry friends. I had walked this route years before this trip, and there were a few places that I specifically wanted to photograph again, especially this lake. I stopped there long enough to make a few careful photographs, including one of my favorites. (That one also comes with a bit of a story and lesson.)
Continue reading Alpine Lake, Mirrored Reflection
As a serious fan of California’s Sierra Nevada, for many years I regarded that spectacular range as more or less the only one worth visiting. And I visited (and still visit) it a lot! My first concrete hint that maybe, just maybe, there were other mountains in the world worth visiting came during a long bicycle trip through Alaska in 1999, where we spent days in sight of huge, ice covered mountains. After a very brief visit to this mountains in Albania, I’m adding them to my list of worthy summits.
We were in Albania for literally only hours. We were staying in Kosovo near Decan, south of Peja, with relatives of a member of our extended European family. He chose to take on on a long drive to the mountains, and I did not even realize we were going into Albania until we arrived at a border station! We ascended the beautiful Valbone River Valley, finally arriving at a resort located at the base of these spectacular mountains.
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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
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This might be one of the most classic Eastern Sierra canyons. A short spur road off of US 395 quickly climbs old glacial moraines, and before long high desert and cottonwoods transition to the first aspen trees. There is a parking lot at the end of the road, and from there a trail heads straight up the canyon, passing through this transitional high desert terrain, then through aspen groves, and before long entering conifer forest beneath stunning alpine ridges and peaks.
On this occasion I photographed from areas along the road, since I was scouting fall color. It had been cold and the highest peaks were dusted with the light snow from an early season storm. Aside from the conifers, the vegetation was in that beautiful, late-fall golden state that signals the arrival of autumn and the impending onset of winter.
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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