Tag Archives: backcountry

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Outcropping and Reflection

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Outcropping and Reflection
The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Outcropping and Reflection. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The reflection of a massive outcropping at the edge of an alpine lake nestled in a rocky Sierra Nevada basin.

Back in the summer of 2013 a group of us spent a week base-camped within a five minute walk of this feature and an entire landscape filled with equivalent wonders. It was a high place (roughly 12,000′) filled with lakes and surrounded by forests of small trees and rocky slopes and peaks. We spent that week getting to know this area intimately and photographing it in all kinds of light and conditions.

I suppose that most people must have a carry in their minds a visual symbol for their special places — perhaps a giant tree, a waterfall, a coastal bluff, and so on. When it comes to the Sierra Nevada, the image that comes to mind is usually a high place much like this one, where the trees begin to thin, lakes are often rockbound, and talus slopes rise to alpine ridges and peaks.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow

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Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow
A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

Alpine Lake, Storm, and Rainbow. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail crosses a rise beyond an alpine lake as rain begins and a rainbow appears against stormy skies, Kings Canyon National Park.

This photograph comes from a wonderful trip into the Kings Canyon backcountry seven summers ago. A group of five photographers who have been doing such things for almost twenty years (I’ve been going along for a decade) packed in to a remote location at 12,000′ and set up a basecamp. We spent a week there photographing the heck out of the nearby landscape of granite, lakes, and peaks — and enjoying the camaraderie that comes from working together in the wilderness.

By the time I made this photograph I had settled thoroughly into the routines of living and photographing in such a place. I’ve often photographed while hiking through the Sierra, but working from a base-camp gives me time to explore more carefully, to get to know the character of a place, and to experience it in a variety of conditions. Although it was the tail-end of a drought season, we had rain from time to time, and on this afternoon I photographed an area full of lakes as the afternoon showers arrived.

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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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds

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Peaks And Sunset Clouds
Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada

Peaks And Sunset Clouds. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Colorful sunset clouds above the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

The High Sierra can be a place of remarkable and striking light… but more often the conditions revolve around successive days of perfectly blue, cloud-free skies. That is probably among the reason the place is called the “range of light,” but it also can be challenging for photographers hoping for special, unusual, and striking conditions. Yes, we complain about “perfect, blue-sky conditions!

But eventually, even in this gentle range, the conditions do change. Most often in the summertime Sierra the change comes from periodic intrusions of monsoonal moisture that bring a few days of thunderstorms. On our recent trip we got a bit of that on our hike in… and then, a week later, on our hike out. For the rest of our stay was almost under those “perfect” conditions… except for our last evening, when the Sierra presented us with these beautiful sunset clouds, producing a beautiful luminous benediction to our visit.

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

Timberline Lake, Soft Light

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Timberline Lake, Soft Light
Quiet morning light at a Sierra Nevada timberline lake.

Timberline Lake, Soft Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An alpine stream descends through a boulder-strewn, meadow-filled Sierra Nevada valley.

I photographed this scene in what a colleague refers to as “the quiet light” — the soft light in shade, found here during the daytime but also found before sunrise and after sunset. This lights is not as striking as the more dramatically colored light of sunrise and sunset, but it has a special peaceful quality.

The lake wrapped around our basecamp, with nearby streams flowing into and out of it. The rocky shoreline on the far bank is backed by tiny bits of meadow, some trees, and a series of rocky benches rising to a low, glaciated ridge. Beyond that — and not visible from here — is an alpine lake. And above that rocky talus slopes rise toward the base of the highest peaks, in a world of rock.

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.