Tag Archives: canyon

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Cascade in Lee Vining Canyon, Autumn Snow

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Cascade in Lee Vining Canyon, Autumn Snow

Cascade in Lee Vining Canyon, Autumn Snow. Sierra Nevada, California. October 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cascade on Lee Vining Creek on an autumn afternoon following an early snowfall.

On my second trip to the eastern Sierra this fall – a much less successful trip than the first one a week earlier – I visited Lee Vining Canyon in the late afternoon, after the sun had retreated behind the very high peaks around Tioga Pass, leaving the bottom of the canyon in shadow. My last stop in the canyon was at this well-known cascade near the Bend campground. I did several long exposures of the cascade so that the water would diffuse. As you can see, the fall foliage here was less spectacular than in some other years, but the recent snow on the branches and the creek bank along with the frozen water under the overhang at the upper right created a wintery quality in the scene.

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Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall

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Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall
Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of morning light on the Merced River canyon leading into Yosemite Valley with Bridalveil Fall in the distance.

If you enter the park via state route 120 and head toward Yosemite Valley, after passing the exit to Foresta you cross a ridge and begin the descend toward the Valley. I almost always stop at this location right after the longer of the three tunnels on this section of roadway and enjoy the view straight up the Merced Canyon toward Bridalveil Fall and a point where the Valley bends to the right.

The more I see this photo, the more I like it. Yosemite is, obviously, a place with quite a few famous and iconic photographic subjects, but I don’t think this view – at least not in these conditions – is one of them. But it is a view that many of us know well, as it is along the main northerly entrance to the Valley and is one of the first open views down into the Merced River canyon and the Valley itself, albeit the lower section.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Two White Globe Lily Flowers

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Two Chinese Lantern Flowers
Two White Globe Lily Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two white globe lily flowers growing in a narrow canyon at Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. I make a point of hiking through this canyon with my camera equipment every April, when many wildflowers are in bloom.

A couple notes on this photo and some other wildflower photos that will soon follow… I know the location of these flowers very well – they grow along a trail through a canyon at a nearby park where I hike many times each year. I shot these photographs without a tripod. In fact, I travelled very light when I did much of this flower photography this season – on this day I was carrying only my Canon 5D and a 24-105mm zoom. The lens choice might catch the attention of some readers, since this is not your typical macro lens – but I’ve found that it works quite well for this type of shooting, and that it is possible to get a pleasing background blur in many cases if I use a large aperture and pay attention to what is in the background.

keywords: chinese lantern, flower, wild, wildflower, spring, canyon, blossom, plant, leaf, nature, almaden, quicksilver, santa clara county, park, san jose, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Titus Canyon

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Titus Canyon

Titus Canyon. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Titus Canyon, Death Valley National Park.

This was, to say the least, a difficult shot. Besides driving nearly 30 miles on dirt roads, there were photographic challenges, not the least of which is the extreme dynamic contrast between the very bright sky and the dark canyon walls. Needless to say, this photograph is the result of some significant post-processing work – but do click the image to view it larger.

The road through Titus Canyon is one of the most amazing features of any Western US National Park. (Shhh….) It begins on a rather typical high desert dirt road through sagebrush country but then ascends into the Amargosa range. Before long this narrow one-way track twists and turns up and down steep ridges past amazing rocky ridges and along the top of tremendous canyons – while not a true four-wheel drive road, it is not for the faint hearted. It then descends into Titus Canyon itself, and near the bottom it passes through an unbelievable slot canyon – in places barely wider than your car the canyon walls rise vertically for hundreds of feet above. (If you visit Titus Canyon, check with the park service first since road conditions are very rough and can change.)

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