Tag Archives: america

Slot Canyon Detail

Slot Canyon Detail
“Slot Canyon Detail” — Details of the wall of a Utah slot canyon, illuminated by reflected light.

There is a lot I could write about this photograph, the circumstances of making it, and how it ended up here today. First off, it is an older photograph, made years ago. I periodically revisit my old raw file archives, and I always discover photographs that I left behind. In this case, someone else’s photograph from the Southwest triggered me to review my older work from Utah, much of which is over a decade old. So far, I’ve rediscovered about twenty interesting Utah images from that period. Stay tuned!

The photograph came from a productive expedition to Utah during the autumn of 2014. I started out traveling and photographing solo, but eventually joined up with others as I worked in the southern part of the state for weeks. Early on that trip I almost randomly ended up at this location. I drove down a dirt road that looked interesting, found a place to park, and started walking down a shallow stream bed. The route entered a canyon that soon narrowed and turned into a slot canyon. It was only later that I discovered that I had been in a bit of a special place.


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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections

Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections
“Lake, Peninsula, and Reflections” — Morning sun comes to a rocky peninsula at a wilderness lake reflecting gigantic talus slopes, Inyo National Forest.

Reflections in the waters of high country lakes always provide interesting photographic subjects. This lake, located just outside the northeast boundary of Yosemite National Park, produces some of the largest and most abstract shapes that I know of. The combination of open terrain and huge talus slopes are the keys.

I photographed here in the early morning, while my non-photographer backpacking partners were still snug and warm in their sleeping bags. The light had worked its say down the distant slope and across most of the lake — you can see the edge of the shadow on the rocks at center right.


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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Meadow and Young Trees, Morning

Meadow and Young Trees, Morning
“Meadow and Young Trees, Morning” — A meadow interspersed with young trees ascends toward forest and ridges in morning light.

I have passed this spot on Tioga Pass Road for years and thought about making a photograph. I could only catch a brief glimpse while driving by since it is along a section of the roadway with no obvious pull-out. In mid-September it caught my eye again, especially with I saw haze and light beams in the trees. So I turned around, went back, and finally located a place to pull over a short walk away.

This part of the Yosemite High Sierra is full of little meadows like this one, stretching upwards along streams that descend from higher peaks. This one is full of young trees that are gradually filling in the meadow, and I suppose someday the meadow will be gone and the stream will flow through the forest.


Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Three Trees, Sunrise

Three Trees, Sunrise
“Three Trees, Sunrise” — Three trees at Tuolumne Meadows in hazy sunrise light.

During the first half of September I spent a few days camping and photographing in the Tuolumne Meadows area. On two of those day I wandered into Tuolumne Meadows before sunrise. There was fog one day — not the one in this photograph — and haze from wildfire smoke on both. Here the trees, being close to the camera, have some intense color from the sunrise light, while the haze mutes the distant landscape and shifts its colors.

Some amount of wildfire smoke seems to come with the terrify in September and October in the Sierra, at least until a first good storm arrives. At its worst, the smoke can be thick enough to be unhealthy and to make photography a challenge. But much of the time it can lend an interesting muted color to everything, as it does here.


Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.