Tag Archives: back-country

Commentary, News, Photographers, Publications

First Light: Five Photographers Explore Yosemite’s Wilderness

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So, you like landscape photography, right? And you are aware that some of the most beautiful photographic subjects can be found in the back-country of California’s Yosemite National Park, right? And you very much enjoy looking through and absorbing the work of photographers who know the place especially well, right?

You need to pick up a copy of First Light: Five Photographers Explore Yosemite’s Wilderness, published by Heyday Press.

The book features the wonderful photography of a group of photographers whose experience in the park is extraordinary and varied: Charles Cramer, Karl Kroeber, Scot Miller, Mike Osborne, and Keith S. Walklet. Right now copies of the book autographed by all five photographers are available from the Ansel Adams Gallery.

(For the record, I have no financial interest in this book and if you purchase through the links in my post I receive no compensation from the sale. I just like the book and the photographers a lot and think you might, too!)

Site News

A Couple of Quick Updates

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PeterP wrote left a “comment” asking how I do black and white conversions. I replied with a brief overview of my approach to using the “Black and White” layer in CS4 and then working with multiple masked curves layers to fine tune the resulting image.

I returned yesterday from a four-day pack photography backpack trip into the Young Lakes area of the Yosemite back-country out of Tuolumne Meadows. I’m currently going through a few hundred RAW files and beginning to work on a few of them. Conditions in the Sierra this past week were “interesting” – meaning some pretty good sized thunderstorms every afternoon and lots of interesting light somewhat marred by occasional smoke floating up from a wildfire burning lower in the Tuolumne River drainage.

 

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Equipment

Backpacking Photography Equipment – My Approach

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Since the summer backpacking season is upon us – though it will be at least a few more weeks before I’m out and about in the back-country – it seems like a good time to post a pointer to a post I wrote earlier (and update every year) about my backpacking photography equipment.

I have backpacked in the Sierra Nevada – and occasionally elsewhere – for more than four decades, believe it or not. My total time on the trail can be measured in years if you add it all up. Over the years I’ve gone through a diverse range of approaches to integrating my photography with my time on the trail: early on I used to carry film SLRs, I gradually moved to smaller and lighter and less capable cameras, for a while I decided to not let photography interfere with the backpacking experience at all, and these days the photography has again become a primary reason for the backpacking.

I’ve evolved an approach to doing serious photography on the trail that works really well for me. It has to do partly with the selection of equipment that I’ve come to use, but it also has to do with my philosophy about what, when, where, and how to shoot. If you are serious about doing photography on the trail, I hope that the article has something to offer to you, whether your approach turns out to be similar to or quite different than mine.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Pine Branches – Fletcher Lake

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Pine Branches - Fletcher Lake

Pine Branches – Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Close up photograph of pine branches in soft morning light at Fletcher Lake in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, California.

This is a portrait orientation version of a scene I photographed recently while on a backpack trip into the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp – Fletcher Lake area of the Yosemite National Park backcountry. I photographed these branches in morning light, and most of the light is filtering in from the other side of the tree and reflected from the sky and brightly illuminated rocks and lake.

keywords: pine, tree, branch, needle, close, macro, morning, light, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, camp, yosemite, national park, california, usa, back-country, backpack, hike, camp, nature, flora, foliage, outdoor, forest, stock