Tag Archives: branches

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

Autumn Reflections, Merced River

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Reflections, Merced River
“Autumn Reflections, Merced River” — Colors and shapes of autumn branches and leaves reflected in the surface of the Merced River, Yosemite Valley.

Some years back, as is my annual tradition, I was in Yosemite Valley in autumn to photograph fall color and other aspects of the seasonal change. To be honest, I mostly avoid the Valley during the summer time. It is a spectacular place any time of year, but I’ll happily avoid the oppressive crowds and overly-hot weather and visit during the other three seasons.

I distinctly recall the circumstances of this photograph. It was morning, and there had been some light early snow. The sun was coming out in the morning, the temperature warmed, and the melting snow was dropping from every tree. As I walked across a bridge on my way to a different subject I happened to look down and see the patterns created as the droplets fell into the Merced River, creating expanding and overlapping rings. I was entranced. I stopped and set up, forgetting about my original goal, and focused on this subject instead.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Tree Trunks, Tyndall Creek

Image Leave a comment
Tree Trunks, Tyndall Creek
The trunks and branchs of a group of closely spaced trees high in the Sierra Nevada backcountry

Tree Trunks, Tyndall Creek. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The trunks and branchs of a group of closely spaced trees high in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

A simple photograph of some tree trunks, of a sort you could perhaps find in locations all over the higher portions of the Sierra Nevada, can evoke a surprising number of memories and associations. While I might walk past such a thing and not take much notice, I have often spent time in the company of such trees — pausing for lunch on the trail, living among them in a high country campsite.

Some of these memories are general, which is not a surprise given that such trees are everywhere. In that light, I’ve often contemplated how such trees seem to occupy a middle ground between the relatively short lives of creatures like ourselves and the “deep time” of rocks. The trees live hundreds of years, and as they adapt to their rooted locations they can sometimes seem to have more in common with the rocks than with us. Other associations are quite specific — and this photograph takes me back to a specific location along the JMT, a place I’ve camped a number of times, and to the people I was traveling with and those we encountered on a couple of specific days.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Sand, Branches, Shadows

Image Leave a comment
Sand, Branches, Shadows
Shadows of dried branches on windblown sand dunes

Sand, Branches, Shadows. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows of dried branches on windblown sand dunes.

A small group of photographers ventured into the dunes early on this late-winter morning, starting out from the nearby roadway in pre-dawn darkness. As we walked the sky began to get lighter and before long we could begin to make our our surroundings and our destination in an out-of-the-way area of dunes. Along the way we were surprised — though in retrospect we should not have been — by muddy areas still soaked by recent rains.

The sun still was not up when we arrived at the edge of the dunes. As a group of five photographers we encountered a slight challenge — compared to when we photograph such places alone, we found that we had to consider every step regarding how our tracks would potentially intrude on our partners’ photographs! While dunes are mostly sand, there is quite a lot of life there, too. Early in the morning it is common to find the tracks of lizards, snakes, birds, and even small animals. Here and there plant life can be found, too. These spindly branches mostly looked dead, though a few retained the color of living plants and might soon put out a few post-rain leaves.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray

Leave a comment

Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray
Forms of bare trees silhouetted against the sunlit spray of a Yosemite waterfall.

Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare trees silhouetted against the sunlit spray of a Yosemite waterfall.

For decades I have had an informal tradition of stopping at a waterfall during my first spring visit to Yosemite Valley, and getting as close — and as wet! — as possible as my way of saying goodbye to the cold winter season and hello to the upcoming warmer times of the year. Most often the location has been Bridal Veil Fall, one of the most accessible in The Valley and one that reliably produces clothing-soaking mist early in the season. Although I have photographed this “event,” the point of the visit has rarely been photographic — it is more about a reconnection with a favorite time of year in the Sierra and a personal celebration of the wild flow of melting snow at this time of the year.

But, of course, I can’t entirely avoid photographing the thing. That said, photographing the drenching torrent up close presents some problems. Cameras don’t like mist-filled air, especially when the mist is sometimes thick enough to act more like rain. Even if your camera is protected against water, you lens is going to get soaked quickly, and water-covered lenses and most landscape photography don’t mix. So my approach is to work quickly with a handheld camera. I know these lovely trees from previous visits, and I was hoping I could get close enough to photograph them against the clouds of spray coming from the waterfall, silhouetted against the brilliant backlit mist. I pre-selected a lens, stuck the camera in a waterproof bag, and headed up the short trail, quickly getting to the location of these trees. Standing behind a larger tree, I unzipped the bag and took out the camera. I stepped out of the shelter of the tree, pointed the camera up towards these slender trees, composed the image I had in mind, and made perhaps a half-dozen exposures before things got to wet and I had to retreat.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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