Tag Archives: alpine

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Sierra High Country

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First Light, Sierra High Country
First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

First Light, Sierra High Country. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light touches Sierra Nevada peaks and reflects in the surface of an alpine lake.

The photography, of course, is the main excuse for our trips to places like these. We go to some lengths to put ourselves in locations like this for days or longer — lots of advanced planning, solid backcountry travel to get there, and then a week or more of living in tents. But the advantages are many. Obviously the “scenery” is often right outside our tent doors, and when great light happens we are essentially right there. Because we are there for a significant period for time we can more carefully and completely explore our surroundings, finding hidden gems, figuring out best times for various subjects, and returning to them as necessary. We also have the time to slow into the natural backcountry rhythms, where it seems that we have much more time to do all of the important things — photography, of course, but also sitting a looking or having a look discussion with colleagues/friends.

This view was literally steps from my tend, set on what seemed almost like a large peninsula nestled within the curve of the lake. After our first sunrise here it became apparent that the intensely colorful first light would be a fleeting subject. Due to the surrounding geography, this first color would initially spread across the summit of this ridge… but then quickly lose its color. This was a quiet morning, with little wind, so I decided it was time to stake out a camera location and photograph the first light reflected in the lake.

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

Shoreline Bench, Reflections

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Shoreline Bench, Reflections
A rocky bench above the reflecting surface of an alpine Sierra Nevada lake

Shoreline Bench, Reflections. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rocky bench above the reflecting surface of an alpine Sierra Nevada lake.

Since roughly August of 2005 I have been posting a daily new photograph at my website (https://gdanmitchell.com) and on social media, almost always accompanied by a couple of paragraphs of background. Yes, that is 14 years of daily photograph posts at this site! That’s more than 5000 photograph posts as of the date of this on. I’ve done this for several reasons. First, it is a form of daily practice — the importance of which I learned about in my other life in the world of music. Second, I hope that revealing my working process and thinking about photographs may be useful to others trying to make sense of this medium.

This does mean that — obviously! — you’ll see more than one way of seeing a particular subject since I share this editing process here. Today’s photograph — from my recent weeklong shoot in the Eastern Sierra backcountry — is an example of this in at least a couple of ways. First of all, I recently shared another photograph of this same subject that interpreted it in a different way. (That photograph took a closer look at it — this one includes more of the surrounding visual context.) Secondly, if you scroll back to that other version, you may discover that I shared two examples of that one with different crops.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Two Snags, Morning Light

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Two Snags, Morning Light
Two snags stretch toward the sky below an Eastern Sierra Nevada peak in morning light

Two Snags, Morning Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two snags stretch toward the sky below an Eastern Sierra Nevada peak in morning light.

This location was a short walk above the Eastern Sierra backcountry base camp where our group spent a week in late August and the very beginning of September. We were camped at about 11,000′ of elevation, where the trees start to give out just below timberline… and where the landscape’s main feature is rock, including granite slabs, glacial moraines, talus fields, and rugged high peaks.

I walked up here early one morning with a plan to photograph a subject just a bit farther away, but I got distracted by beautiful and developing light. I had noted these snags several days earlier and made a plan to return to photograph them in better light. As I arrived the dead trees were still in shadow, but within moments the sun/shadow line reached the trees, and I made this photograph just as the entire height of the trees came into the light.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Late Season Wildflowers

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Late Season Wildflowers
A patch of late-August lupine flowers in the John Muir Wilderness

Late Season Wildflowers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A patch of late-August lupine flowers in the John Muir Wilderness.

Over the years I’ve seen some outlier seasons in the Sierra Nevada. A few years ago we experienced a serious five-year drought that left the range dry very early in the season, producing summers that were mostly brown up high and autumns that featured stressed aspens. I’ve also experienced summers that followed extremely wet precipitation seasons, including several during which the high country really did not open until July. In those years there was snow around all summer, and even at the end of the season there were still flowing water, green meadows, and even wildflowers.

This summer fell into the latter category. Although last winter’s season started out looking dry, a series of strong storms arrived a bit later and produced a much larger than average snowpack. Once again, the opening of the high country was delayed, and when it did open up there was water everywhere. My recent visit was during the final few days of August and the first couple of days of September. Despite the late date, many areas were still green — especially in the well-watered valley we visited — and wildflowers were still blooming. Not far from our camp I found extensive patches of lupine in full bloom.

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.