Tag Archives: brush

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

Edge of the Shadow, Ten Lakes Basin

September 16, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The shadow from tall cliffs to the west of Ten Lakes Basin moves across a small meadow near the base of the cliffs, Yosemite National Park, California.

Although I have backpacked in the Sierra and in Yosemite for many decades and have visited many parts of the back-country so often that I know individual rocks and trees (!), I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I had not been into the Ten Lakes Basin until my trip in late August. I’ve looked up at the valley through which the trail to the Basin climbs as I’ve driven past on Tioga Pass Road but I’ve always thought of this location as not high enough for me since I prefer the highest sub-alpine terrain.

This little clearing in the forest is located between what some call “lake three and lake four,” the two lakes up the creek from the largest lake in the center of the Basin, which is the one where most people seem to camp. (I camped at “lake three” and had it entirely to myself for two nights.) Because the ridge to the west of the Basin is so high and steep and close to these lakes, the shadow from the ridge begins to block the light quite early in the day.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Eastern Sierra Near Lee Vining

July 29, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Evening light and afternoon clouds over the high desert of the eastern Sierra Nevada range near Lee Vining, California.

I’m finally finding a bit of time to go back to some photographs I made in June this year, including a series from the eastern Sierra that I’ll present in black and white. I made this photograph on an early June trip, the first of the year on which I was able to cross the Sierra on the newly opened Tioga Pass Road. It was something of a “random trip,” as I initially thought I might end up shooting spring subjects in Yosemite Valley – until I figured out that it was going to be way too crowded there and just headed over Tioga Pass instead to camp in Lee Vining Canyon. On this evening I drove out toward Mono Lake and “chased the light” as a storm broke up over the Sierra crest. Not finding quite what I was looking for at this exact hour at Mono I headed back toward highway 395 and took a little gravel road towards the upper end of the June Lakes Loop. As I came to the top of the hill I saw this wonderful view looking north across the high desert and sagebrush towards the hills around Lee Vining with the light shining onto the valley floor below the clouds that were just starting to thin.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Croatia, Photographs: Death Valley

Ruins, Dawn, Rhyolite

May 15, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cloud-filtered dawn light washes over crumbling ruins in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada with Death Valley National Park, California and snow-capped Telescope Peak in the distance.

(More of my Death Valley photographs)

Looking back through my photos from Rhyolite in early April of this year, I found this image of several ruined and crumbling buildings against the backdrop of Amargosa Valley, Death Valley National Park and Telescope Peak, and an cloudy interesting dawn sky. One reason I thought I’d share this one is that it is a somewhat different image of the Rhyolite ghost town in that it doesn’t really include any of the iconic structures – just a more typical scene of buildings in a state of ongoing desert decay.

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.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Dawn Light, Rhyolite

April 5, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Dawn sun strikes the ruins of the bank building in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada, with the mountains of California’s Death Valley National Park beyond.

This was my second visit to the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada – just outside the Death Valley National Park boundary and a few miles from the small town of Beatty. Rhyolite is the result of a very brief gold-fed boom and bust cycle in the first years of the 1900s, when it went from being one of the largest towns in Nevada (not much of a challenge… ;-) to being completely deserted in a matter of a few years after the ore more or less ran out. Some structures remain, including this iconic bank building that is probably the most recognized (and most photographed) feature of the town.

On my previous visit, almost exactly one year ago, I arrived before dawn, as I did again this year. Repeating last year’s experience, once again there were high clouds in the sky, and I was concerned about whether or not the light would be good. Last year it never got better than OK, though there were still some interesting photographs to be made. I went ahead and set up, this time standing back from the building and using a long lens to capture an image of the front wall of the bank with the Amargosa range in the distance and beyond that the snow-covered summit of 11,000″+ Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range. At sunrise the light came through below the high clouds, and a brief moment of absolutely stunning light illuminated Rhyolite and the Amargosa Range. Yes, the light really was this color – I actually have reduced the saturation a bit in post.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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