Tag Archives: bush

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek. Near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dry creekbed meanders through a boulder-filled golden late-season Sierra Nevada meadow at sunset near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is another view of the “backyard” of my solo-backpacking camp site near Evelyn Lake back in early September of this year. Dusk has fallen across the meadow and the twisting creekbed leading to the lake, but a bit of alpenglow lingers on the clouds beyond the tree-lined ridge.

This photograph is evidence of the early onset of “fall” in the high country. Although the equinox was still nearly two weeks away, the plants here had lost their summer appearance – the meadow was almost entirely brown or golden and the small creek, which would contribute to the flooding of this lakeside meadow earlier in the season had already stopped flowing.

(By starting my “fall” season in late summer in the high country I can manage to experience fall colors for at least three months every year!. I often see the first hints of the change in the highest country even earlier than the date of this photograph. Then by late September and early October the Sierra aspen color show is in full swing. By the end of the month I can find great colors at lower elevations on the west side of the range, such as in Yosemite Valley. After that the colors continue to develop through November in the coastal areas of central and northern California, and here in the SF Bay Area there are still a lot of fall colors to be seen.)

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

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Glacier Point Geology Hut, Early Morning Light

Glacier Point Geology Hut, Early Morning Light

Glacier Point Geology Hut, Early Morning Light. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light on the Glacier Point Geology Hut, Yosemite National Park, California.

I love photographing at Glacier Point just before and right around sunrise. Despite the challenge of shooting into the bright sky and rising sun to the east, several subjects here can be compelling in the early morning: the first light striking Mt. Hoffman, light beams coming over the Sierra crest, and especially the very first direct light to strike the trees along the ridge at Glacier Point and open to the light from the east. Not only that, but if you go at the right time you have have the whole place nearly or entirely to yourself. I often go there when I visit in autumn and a quiet November morning there is very special.

I had more or less “worked the scene” of the first light hitting Hoffman, North Dome and surrounding peaks before I made this photograph. I basically turned my camera around to point the opposite direction and repositioned the tripod a bit to frame this stone building and include the light on its eastern face.

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

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Fall Foliage and Rock Face, Tioga Road

Fall Foliage and Rock Face, Tioga Road

Fall Foliage and Rock Face, Tioga Road. Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors come to plants growing in cracks in a rock face alongside Tioga Road, Yosemite National Park, California.

As I drove across the Sierra via Tioga Pass Road in late September I was watching for early fall color, which often just gets going at about this time. Most of the good color is east of the crest, but there is one area near where the road crosses Yosemite Creek where I sometimes spot some yellow leaves – and, sure enough, as I passed this spot I saw some interesting color along the rock walls beside the road.

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

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Fall Color, Leidig Meadow

Fall Color, Leidig Meadow

Fall Color, Leidig Meadow. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall colors of grasses, bushes, and trees along the edge of Liedig Meadow and the Merced River with cliff walls in the background, Yosemite Valley.

Yes, I’m still working Leidig Meadow… As I wrote earlier, I love the low autumn backlight and early November colors of trees and meadow at this location in Yosemite Valley. In fact I shot here on both afternoons during my visit on October 31 and November 1. Here the trees are roughly sidelight by light coming up the canyon from the west, and the light is aleady gone from the tall cliffs across the Valley and just to the west of Yosemite Falls.

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

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