Tag Archives: branch

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Pine Needles, Fletcher Lake

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Pine Needles, Fletcher Lake

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

During the first weekend of September 2008 I made my first late-season visit to the Sierra, heading to Fletcher Lake in the Yosemite backcountry, a place I often try to visit each year at about this time. I like to get up there as the fall season approaches, and an added bonus this time was the possibility of meeting some fellow photographers who were in the area. (More about that later.)

In the morning of my last day at Fletcher I was up early to photograph the morning light on the rocks and trees around the lake, especially those reflected in the still water at that hour. I was just about finished with that project when I spotted these needles on the shady side of a shoreline grove of trees.

keywords: pine, branch, needle, tree, fletcher, vogelsang, lake, yosemite, national park, california, usa, sierra, nevada, nature, green, fall, autumn, pattern, stock

Photographs: Central California

Cypress Forest Path

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Cypress Forest Path
Cypress Forest Path. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 24, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trail with steps and cypress tree at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

This is the same location in several other photographs I have posted recently, all shot during a late August 2008 visit to this central California coastal park. In this version I have taken the liberty of doing some (to me, at least) significant post-processing of the photograph in order to create a particular type of mood that seems appropriate for this location.

keywords: california, nature, point lobos, summer, monterey, state, reserve, carmel, peninsula, trail, steps, stairs, cypress, tree, forest, path, usa, coast, shore, steps, stairs, plants, flowers, wildflowers, rocks, branch, stock

Photographs: Central California

Cypress Tree and Steps

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Cypress Tree and Steps - Point Lobos
Cypress Tree and Steps. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. August 24, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of rock steps leading to a lone cypress tree. Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

I’ve visited this spot many times in the past. It is along a short trail at Point Lobos that leads through the Monterey cypress forest and right along the tops of the coastal cliffs. I’ve always been intrigued by this little section of trail with this carefully constructed stone stairway leading to a small lone cypress right on the edge of the cliff. It was foggy on the day when I made this photo – I set up the camera and tripod and waited for some light to begin to filter through the thinning fog.

keywords: black and white, monochrome, cypress, tree, branch, trunk, steps, stairs, trail, path, rock, boulder, plants, point lobos, state, reserve, california, usa, ocean, park, carmel, monterey, peninsula, travel, scenic, landscape, detail. stock, nature

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Two Snags – Big Arroyo

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Two Snags - Big Arroyo
Two Snags – Big Arroyo. Sequoia National Park, California. August 7 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of two trailside snags above Big Arroyo with Great Western Divide in the distance, Sequoia National Park, California.

This photograph was made on Sequoia National Park’s High Sierra Trail as it climbs out of Big Arroyo and onto the Chagoopa Plateau before eventually dropping down into the depths of the Kern Canyon.

I was in full “head down and climbing the trail” mode when I almost walked right past these trailside snags, but my friend Ernie fortunately pointed them out to me. Ernie’s not really a photographer – though he takes far more great photos of fellow backpackers than I – but he notices a lot on the trail. He was the champion at running into wildlife on the August 2008 High Sierra Trail trip, typically managing to discover a couple rattlesnakes each day and on another day discovering a small mammal that the rest of us had never seen in the Sierra.

keywords: high, sierra, trail, nevada, california, usa, landscape, travel, hike, backpack, big arroyo, california, usa, tree, snag, great western divide, sequoia, national park, cloud, sky, ridge, mountain, alpine, landscape, branch, stock, black and white