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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Humphreys, Dawn

January 5, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cloud banners blow from the summit pf snow-dusted Mount Humpreys in autumn dawn light

This photograph is from a spectacular landscape in the easter Sierra above the town of Bishop, in what is sometimes called Buttermilk Country, or just plain “the Buttermilks.” Here the land rises gradually and steadily from the Owens Valley lowlands near the town, first gradually, then building into the eroded and rounded rocky hills like those catching the sun in the center of this photograph, and finally culminating in the alpine peaks of the Sierra Nevada Crest. The tallest peak in the photograph is Mount Humphreys.

As is typical at this autumn time of year, I was in the eastern Sierra to photograph fall color — which mostly means aspen trees. My recollection is that we started up toward the mountains from Bishop very early in the morning, before sunrise, and then decided that the dawn light on the eastern face of the Sierra offered more possibilities than yet more aspen photographs — besides, the aspens would still be there after this sunrise light was gone! We left the main road and followed gravel tracks that I know from previous visits and arrived at this spot with its view of foreground hills and crest peaks just as the dawn light show began.

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

Dawn Light, Alkali Lake and the Minarets

October 1, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Pink dawn light illuminates the surface of an Alkali Lake and the Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner

Although it has been almost a year since I made this photograph, I recall the morning very well. I had stayed at a cheap motel in Mammoth Lakes the night before, and when I got up well before dawn I had no specific shooting plan other than to head in the general direction of places where I would find aspens, most likely somewhat south of Mammoth. I drove down to highway 395 from Mammoth and spotted the steam from the hot springs along with some fog in Long Valley. Figuring that I wasn’t certain where I would find the aspen color I was looking for but that I was certain that interesting stuff was happening out in the valley, I changed plans and headed there instead.

I drove to small lake where I have photographed a number of times in the past, pulled off the road, grabbed my gear, and headed out to the bank of the lake opposite the still relatively dark Sierra crest. This was an unusual early October, and three relatively large winter-type storms had passed through during the previous week, dropping substantial early season snow all along the upper reaches of the Sierra. As a consequence, at a time of year when it usually looks more like summer, the range had taken on a very wintry appearance. As the first pre-dawn light came to the sky, it turned the slightly hazy atmosphere a beautiful shade of pink and this light was reflected in the surface of the small lake.

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

Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner

September 8, 2011 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First sunrise light on the Minarets, Mount Ritter, and Banner Peak above Ediza Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

I made this photograph during a long and leisurely pack trip into the Minarets area of the Sierra Nevada near Mammoth Lakes. It was leisurely because I accompanied my brother and his family – and the fact that some kids were on the trip contributed to the slower hiking pace… as did the fact that both he and I wanted to make photographs.

This is a popular and accessible area of the Sierra, and also one that is a bit unusual. Typically the highest peaks of the range are found on the actual crest, but here the Sierra crest is further to the east and rather low, being right about where the Mammoth Ski Area is located. Across an intervening valley – a valley that holds Devils Postpile National Monument – loom the high and jagged peaks of the Minarets, a series of impressive spires, and the summits of Mount Ritter and Banner Peak. While in most of the Sierra the areas to the east of the highest peaks descend rapidly to the high desert, here the areas below these peaks remain very high and provide a different view of the eastern faces of the peaks.

The photograph was made very early in the morning along the shoreline of Ediza Lake on a day when clouds were already starting to build even at this early hour. Yes, there was rain later on!

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

Ediza Lake, Morning

September 6, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Broken clouds cover the sky as morning light comes to Ediza Lake and surrounding peaks, Sierra Nevada.

This is a photograph from about four years ago, when I made a several-day trip into the area around the Minarets and travelled slowly between Ediza Lake and Thousand Island Lake. I was on the trail with my brother’s family, so we took it fairly easy and stayed at Ediza and then Thousand Island for several days. This provide plenty of time for photography, unlike some of my “traditional” trips on which I tended to move every day.

We had “interesting” weather on this trip, in all senses of the word “interesting.” In fact, the conditions really were quite good for photography, ranging from perfectly clear dawns to afternoon thunder showers and everything in between. On one memorable late morning I had hiked up from Ediza to the some higher lakes closer to the Minarets. When I left it was perfectly clear, but by the time I arrived at my destination (or perhaps my new, closer destination once I saw the weather) it became clear that it wasn’t going to remain clear for long. Being a bit too trusting of the earlier clear weather, I had gone out with no rain gear, and by the time I got close to camp very large rain drops were starting to fall.

This photograph was made in the morning from the shoreline of Ediza Lake. It looks back over the lake toward Mount Ritter and Banner Peak, whose two large summits dominate this whole area.

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G Dan Mitchell Photography

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Mount Humphreys, Dawn

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Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.