Tag Archives: brush

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

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Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake

Aspens and Early Snow, North Lake. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An early autumn snow fall dusts the ridge above the aspen groves at North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

Another photograph from my early October 2008 visit to the Bishop Creek area. On the first morning I left Bishop very early, waiting only long enough for the local Starbucks to open. (There I admired a couple of Vern Clevenger photos hanging on the wall – his gallery is next door – and saw a few other bleary-eyed photographers getting some much-needed coffee.) Although the weather was clear in Bishop, it began to cloud up as I drove up toward North Lake. When I arrived before sunrise it was cloudy there, but it looked the conditions might be good for some early morning aspen photography.

But not for long. Almost as soon as I took my gear out of the car the wind came up, the temperature dropped and it began to rain and then snow. I quickly holed up in my car to wait it out, and an hour later the sun began to emerge in between the light snow showers. This well known grove of aspens on the far side of the lake climbs a valley toward the ridge. Although many leaves came down quickly in the wind as the front passed, there was still a lot of color in the grove. Here there is still light snow falling on the ridge, even as sunlight slants in from the right.

keywords: early, autumn, fall, snow, snowfall, squall, weather, cloud, sky, mountain, ridge, aspen, grove, tree, color, orange, yellow, gold, brush, bush, north lake, sierra, nevada, range, eastern, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock, meadow, grass

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Fog, Trees, and Rocks at Sunset – Olmsted Point

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Fog, Trees, and Rocks at Sunset - Olmsted Point

Fog, Trees, and Rocks at Sunset – Olmsted Point. Yosemite National Park, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening fog forms over rocky forest near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park.

Another unexpected photograph from my trip to the eastern Sierra to photograph aspens during the first weekend of October. Late on Sunday afternoon I made a spontaneous change in plans and instead of heading north to return to the Bay Area over Monitor Pass (and photograph the aspens on the top of the pass at sunset) I decided to instead head home over Tioga Pass and through the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite. To be honest, the fact that the drive would be at least an hour shorter was probably the major factor. As I crossed Tioga Pass nothing really caught my attention as a photographic subject so I kept going. I passed through Tuolumne just a bit too late for any of the photos I had in mind – the light was just a bit too far gone on the meadow itself – so again I kept going.

Soon I noticed some thin fog-like clouds forming around some of the higher peaks. It occurred to me that this was probably from moist air from the previous day’s rain/snow condensing as the temperature dropped, and I began to suspect that something interesting and surprising just might happen to the atmosphere. As I arrived at Tenaya Lake a fog bank lay ahead at Olmsted Point. I chuckled to myself as I drove past this famous viewpoint for admiring Half Dome, now with a view that extended about 100 feet into the thick fog. However, a couple hundred yards further up the road I realized that the fog was very thin above this ridge and that the setting sun was softly illuminating the forest and rocky outcroppings beneath the fog. I quickly pulled over, grabbed my pack and tripod and charged up a nearby hillside into the forest, trying to find a spot where a bit of this light was still shining – and realizing that I had only a moment to catch it.

keywords: fog, tree, rock, meadow, boulder, erratic, glacial, brush, mist, sunset, evening, twilight, october, fall, autumn, yosemite, national park, tioga, road, olmsted, point, landscape, scenic, stock, california, usa, mountains, sierra, nevada

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Shoreline Detail, Fletcher Lake

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Shoreline Detail, Fletcher Lake

Shoreline Detail, Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocky shoreline of Fletcher Lake and reflections in early morning light – Yosemite National Park, California.

Yet another in the series of morning photographs made in early September 2008 during my brief photographic expedition to Fletcher Lake and surrounding areas in the Yosemite National Park backcountry. Here oblique morning light strikes rocks, bushes, and a small shoreline meadow along the shoreline of the lake.

keywords: fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, camp, nevada, california, usa, shore, shoreline, rocky, rock, boulder, tree, brush, meadow, reflection, bush, morning, light, landscape, wilderness, alpine, scenic, yosemite, national park, backpack, hike, mountain, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap

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Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap
Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap as evening sun strikes peaks around the upper basin – Sequoia National Park, California.

Upper Hamilton Lake is located on the High Sierra Trail in Sequoia National Park, and is the traditional camping spot before climbing over Kaweah Gap on the ridge in this photograph. I arrived there on August 6, 2008 on the second day of nine-day trans-Sierra backpacking trip from Crescent Meadow to Whitney portal, and we left the next morning to climb the Gap and head to points east.

This photograph was made in the evening as the sun set, sending its light through the narrow opening of the canyon to the west toward the wall at the upper end of the lake – while the high ridge is still in sunlight the lake and surrounding slopes are already in shadow. The photograph was made from a position not more than ten or twelve feet from my campsite.

keywords: landscape, upper, hamilton, lake, kaweah, gap, great western, divide, ridge, mountain, pass, basin, cirque, water, reflection, evening, sunset, golden hour, blue, sky, clouds, forest, tree, brush, rock, talus, peak, alpine, sequoia, national park, california, usa, stock, backpack, hike, camp