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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Morrison and Desert Hills, Morning

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Mount Morrison and Desert Hills, Morning
Mount Morrison and Desert Hills, Morning

Mount Morrison and Desert Hills, Morning. Owens Valley, California. October 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light on sagebrush covered Owens Valley hills and the Sierra crest near Mount Morrison.

I was out in this section of Owens Valley early on this October morning, initially to photograph at a small lake further out in the valley. However, knowing parts of this area pretty well from past visits, I wanted to try a photograph that included the foreground tree-covered ridge in morning light with the Sierra peaks in the background – so I headed back on a gravel road that travels a bit north of the paved road I had taken earlier in the morning. I found this scene with the early light illuminating the crest of the Sierra and the sagebrush-covered foreground hills, but with morning shadows still lying across the lower eastern face of the Sierra just south of Convict Lake.

The dusting of early season snow was left over from a week of early autumn storms. Mt. Morrison is the huge and impressive summit at the right end of the ridge. Mt. Baldwin is the small but very high summit near the left end. In between is a vertical rock face that appears to be split by a crack – I think it is called “the Great White Fang.”

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Tom, Late Afternoon Light in Round Valley

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Mount Tom, Late Afternoon Light in Round Valley
Mount Tom, Late Afternoon Light in Round Valley

Mount Tom, Late Afternoon Light in Round Valley. Owens Valley, California. October 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Tom rises above Round Valley as afternoon autumn light falls on trees and pastures.

I drive past this spot every time I pass through the Bishop area in the eastern Sierra. Descending toward Bishop, Highway 395 passes through Round Valley, and I am always intrigued by the rangeland in this area, the trees that grow in the pastures, and the steep eastern slopes of the Sierra beyond. I have an image of these trees with fall colors backed by the lower slopes of the mountains… but that is a photograph that so far only exists in my mind! At some point I want to find time to really photograph this spot, but in the meantime I often stop and occasionally explore here a bit as I pass through.

My early October visit was a bit too early for real fall color in Round Valley, though a few trees were starting to turn here and there. As I drove north from the Bishop area I wasn’t expecting really spectacular color, but as I started up the grade that leaves this valley I caught a glimpse of warm light on these trees as the sun was about to drop behind the ridge. I didn’t quite have time to pull over and turn around so I continued up the road a distance and finally located a turn-around, reversed direction, and headed back down to the spot where I had seen this light. It was almost gone when I arrived, even though it had only been a few minutes. Using the lens that was already on the camera I quickly set up my tripod and managed a few exposures as the light left the groves of trees in the foreground.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basin Mountain, Afternoon Light and Haze

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Basin Mountain, Afternoon Light and Haze
Basin Mountain, Afternoon Light and Haze

Basin Mountain, Afternoon Light and Haze. Round Valley, California. October 9, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Basin Mountain and the Sierra Nevada crest rise above Round Valley on a hazy afternoon.

There is a certain kind of afternoon light in the eastern Sierra that is hard to photograph – looking up at the range from Owens Valley into the afternoon sun the haze can be bluish and decrease detail and the light can be very bright. But it is a part of the experience of the “east side” that we all know, I think. I can’t say that I’ve tried to photograph it very often, but I stopped just off of highway 395 in the Round Valley area on this early October afternoon when I saw the rugged foothills rising above the sagebrush towards the Buttermilks and Basin Mountain and the Sierra crest around Mount Humphreys beyond.

For me, this is one sort of classic eastern Sierra view. Imagine a very warm or even hot afternoon. You are driving through high desert sagebrush country – which often surprises people who are headed to the Sierra and are thinking about high mountains and cool temperatures. The mountains to the west rise precipitously from the floor of Owens Valley, with peaks that can be nearly 10,000 feet higher than the lowlands in some places. You see snow on the peaks and sometimes on the slopes of the mountains. You know that there are places up there where you can park a car and walk out in cool mountain air and head up a trail through meadows and forests and cross a ridge into the alpine world – but the terrain gives little hint of this from below. The light gleaming on snow fields and rock projected into the sky reminds you of this other world high above.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Leaves, Lundy Canyon

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Fall Leaves, Lundy Canyon
Fall Leaves, Lundy Canyon

Fall Leaves, Lundy Canyon. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 10, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Leaves transition from summer to fall colors in a deeply shaded area of forest in Lundy Canyon.

Since it was the second week of October, and the time at which I’ve seen Lundy Canyon aspens change color in the past, I headed up into the canyon on the last day of this visit to the eastern Sierra to look for aspen color. As I drove up the canyon from highway 395 I could see some brilliant color far above on the ridges above the canyon, but I wasn’t seeing much down in the bottom of the canyou. I continued up the canyon past Lundy Lake and the resort – closed up for the season – and then continued on the one-lane dirt road that goes on up to the trailhead, passing some flooded flats along the way. There is often color in these areas and then again in the grove of aspens near the trailhead… but not this time.

(Looking back on this “aspen season” from an early-December perspective, it was a bit of a strange one. It seemed to begin early at the higher elevations and there were stunningly colorful trees up high during the first week of October. However, storms soon came in and took down many leaves – and then there was a “dead zone” period of nearly two weeks before the color resumed at lower elevations. This visit to Lundy Canyon took place near the start of this slow period.)

After figuring out that the color I had coming looking for was not to be found, I started back down the canyon. I stopped briefly by the ponds but the light was not quite what I was looking for – it was still a bit too early in the afternoon and the light was harsh and coming from the “wrong” direction for my purposes. However, elsewhere in the canyon I decided that I had to photograph something before leaving the canyon for a planned evening shoot nearby, so I simply pulled out on a short dirt side road where I had earlier seen some tree trunks leaning against rocks. It turned out that I couldn’t find a composition there either – sometimes this is just the way it goes! However, I found these leaves nearby next to the path I had taken down to the river. I thought that the contrast between the green and yellow and the very dark forest floor might be interesting, so I put on a long lens (to minimize depth of field and to give myself some working distance) and I made a few exposures.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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