Tag Archives: branch

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

Quiet Forest, Reflected Meadow Light

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Quiet Forest, Reflected Meadow Light
Quiet Forest, Reflected Meadow Light

Quiet Forest, Reflected Meadow Light. Yosemite Valley, California. February 23, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Forest trees are illuminated by soft light reflected from a nearby meadow, Yosemite Valley

This could be any number of places in Yosemite Valley where forest and meadow come together. I was walking from one photographic location to another when I passed by this clump of trees at the edge of the forest and thought about photographing them. I even set up and composed a shot… and then the light died. This was a day when the light was coming and going quickly, and this was especially true in this spot which was not far from the edge of the Valley and the boundary between partial sun and the clouds that gathered around the cliffs. So I continued on a bit and tried to find a way to photograph the other subject that had been my original goal.

Finishing that, I started back and soon came upon these trees again. This time the light was back. Off to the left of the trees was a large open area leading to an even larger meadow a bit further out toward the center of the Valley. As there was more light in the meadow and because there were clouds above, a good deal of the light reaching these trees was diffused side-light rather than the overhead light that might have been here if the weather had been clear. So, once again, I set up the tripod and framed a tight composition of these trees, a bit of the winter-dormant grass at their base, and the denser forest beyond. As I set up I could see that the light wasn’t going to last, and I had time for one decent exposure before the light died again.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Hanging Branch with Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall

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Hanging Branch with Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall - A branch covered in yellow autumn leaves hands over a dark sandstone wall, Zion National Park
A branch covered in yellow autumn leaves hands over a dark sandstone wall, Zion National Park

Hanging Branch with Yellow Leaves, Sandstone Wall. Zion National Park, Utah. October 22, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A branch covered in yellow autumn leaves hands over a dark sandstone wall, Zion National Park

This is another photograph made in a short slot canyon in the high country of Zion National Park. At this point, it may be clear that I have a bit of an obsession with plants in front of rock of various sorts, and I was intrigued by this bundle of branches covered with yellow fall leaves that was dangling down onto the rocky wall of sculpted sandstone in this canyon and the way that the branch shapes were juxtaposed with the horizontal patterns in the rock and the diagonal fracture dropping from left to right.

It is easy and so tempting to focus on the beautiful red-toned rock, but there are many other colors to see as well. They range from the nearly white sandstone found in some layers, through intense yellows, and all the way to nearly black, especially where lichen or moss grows on the rock. The surface of the rock in this scene is very complex. Not only is the underlying striation visible, but various sorts of lichen have added color and texture – including the lighter blotches near the bottom of the frame and the slightly more subtle red spots lining portions of the fracture.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain

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Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain - Branch and autumn leaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park
Branch and autumn eaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park

Oak Branch and Layered Sandstone After Rain. Zion National Park, Utah. October 12, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Branch and autumn leaves of a gambel oak drape over layered sandstone after rain, Zion National Park

This photograph was made on the afternoon of the day we arrived in the Zion National Park area, after driving across Arizona and Utah from Moab through some substantial rain. The storm was moving from west-to-east as we drove the opposite direction, and we drove through its core in Arizona. By the time we arrived in Zion and drove over the Mount Carmel Highway, we mostly saw the aftermath of the rain, though a few sprinkles remained here and there – and they occasionally interrupted the photography.

The previous rain and the continuing showers enhance and saturate the colors of the rock and the vegetation and bring to life small streams and rivulets. Here the branch of an overhanging gambel oak tree, just beginning its change to autumn colors, intrudes into the upper corner of the frame and contrasts with the deep red-brown colors of the damp sandstone. Rock angle is everything in this terrain, and here the rock is at an angle that allows its layers to be stripped away gradually, revealing the underlying striations and creating interesting and complex patterns. Because this rock is down in a wash, wet sand sits on many of the small ledges.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Frost-Rimmed Oak Leaves, Autumn

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Frost-Rimmed Oak Leaves, Autumn - A very cold autumn morning brings a touch of frost to late-fall oak leaves in Yosemite Valley
A very cold autumn morning brings a touch of frost to late-fall oak leaves in Yosemite Valley

Frost-Rimmed Oak Leaves, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 13, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very cold autumn morning brings a touch of frost to late-fall oak leaves in Yosemite Valley

Earlier this week I had (just barely) enough time for a very quick one-day up-and-back visit to Yosemite Valley. Such a visit, entailing a four-hour drive each way, and beginning with a 3:30 a.m. alarm going off, is not completely fun in all imaginable ways… but I won’t complain in front of people who might regard a visit to this valley as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m fortunate to live where I’m able to get to such a place and back in a day. The reason for the quick visit was that I had not made my annual “autumn leaves” visit to the Valley. In a typical year I do that right around the first of November (though I often think of it as a Halloween trip!) when the maple, oak, and dogwood leaves can be very colorful. I thought that I had missed the show this year, but over the weekend I heard from friends that there were still leaves in The Valley, so I figured that I would try to get up there for a quick visit.

Having gone there for decades, I no longer go straight for the usual iconic subjects – though I will photograph them when the conditions are extraordinary. Instead, I often end up poking around in odd corners, looking for things that are smaller and less easily seen, but which I associate with The Valley just as much as, say, Half Dome or El Capitan or Yosemite Falls. So, odd as it may seem, when I made my first stop of the day at El Capitan Meadow, with its iconic views of Sentinel Rocks and El Capitan on opposite sides of The Valley… I spent the first 15 minutes with my lens pointed down into a small patch of the Merced River where there were some interesting reflections, and then I wandered off along the river bank in a few inches of snow to photograph close-up views of the wonderful oak leaves rimmed with morning frost. It occurred to me later that some might think it is a bit odd to drive so far to photograph such things!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.