Tag Archives: backcountry

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Shoreline

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Morning Shoreline
Early morning light approaches the rocky shoreline of a backcountry Yosemite lake.

Morning Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light approaches the rocky shoreline of a backcountry Yosemite lake.

With this photograph we are back in the Yosemite National Park backcountry at a lake that I’ve visited many times, including this occasion more than a decade ago when I joined a group of friends and photographers here fo a few beautiful early fall days. This late-september and early October period is my favorite in these mountains. Most of the crowds have left, especially in the backcountry, the mosquitos are gone, and most days are beautiful and filled with warm autumn light. (Of course… occasionally it does snow…)

This photograph is part of a series of images I have shared recently, all made on a morning spent walking around the perimeter of this lake. The earlier photographs were made before the direct sunlight arrived on the scene, but in this one the first early morning light has arrived on granite slabs just above the shoreline.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Alpine Lake Reflections

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Alpine Lake Reflections
Morning light on an alpine lake, a tree-covered peninsula, and a shaded talus slope in the distance.

Alpine Lake Reflections. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light on an alpine lake, a tree-covered peninsula, and a shaded talus slope in the distance.

This photograph takes us back to the northern reaches of the Yosemite backcountry, off of a trail that ultimately heads further north and out of the park. We left the main trail in this area and wandered up into a valley with a series of beautiful subalpine and alpine lakes below high ridges and peaks near the Sierra crests. The group set up camp here and photographed for days.

This lovely lake with its far talus-slope shoreline was moments from our campsite; we photographed it often and passed it every time we went off to more distant locations. Perhaps because it was so convenient, but also because it was so beautiful, we often ended up photographing along its shoreline in the morning. I made this photograph shortly after the sun had cleared the ridge on the far side of the lake, sending beautiful backlight down onto the trees on the peninsula.

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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Exfoliation

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Exfoliation
Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

Exfoliation. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

As is our pattern in the backcountry, by late afternoon each of photographers in our group had “headed out” find subjects to photograph in late-day light. There was a lot to work with in the area surrounding the lake where we were camped; low ridges, the shoreline of the lake, forest, meadow with boulders, granite slabs, and even actual mountains if you walked far enough.

I decided to wander to the other side of our lake, where a granite dome rise above the water… and dropped of precipitously into a gigantic canyon on the other side. I decided that I would approach from one side, cross the summit close to sunset, and then return to camp by descending a ridge on the other side. The angle of the light was quite low as I crossed granite slabs to a low spot between the dome and another low hill, and the slabs were covered with boulders that appeared to be remnants of the process of exfoliation.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photography and Music

Shoreline, Sunset

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Shoreline, Sunset
The shoreline of an alpine lake at sunset, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

Shoreline, Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shoreline of an alpine lake at sunset, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

We were camped at a backcountry lake in northern Yosemite. Our group of photographers were there for a long enough period of time to photograph the lake itself and to explore the surrounding terrain — other lakes, talus fields, high ridges, and more. On this evening we all had the same idea — to follow the inlet stream of “our” lake up a slope toward the next higher lake in the drainage.

I made this photograph near the upper lake’s outlet, where the terrain flattened out and wetter, almost swampy areas surrounded the water. This spot, being higher than surrounding country, was fully open to the west and the low angle sun sloped across these small trees, standing against a background of a late-season snow field and the base of a rocky slope.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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