Tag Archives: cliff

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Shot from a very famous and popular location, this is a long lens view of the face of El Capitan close to sunset when the light is almsot but not quite directly from behind my position, and when the shadows of the lower mountains to the west begin to rise up the face of the mountain. There is a color version of this photograph also, but the effect is very different. And this one reminds me in a vague way of a certain famous photograph of another Yosemite landmark.

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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Meadow, Oak Forest, and Cliffs – Autumn, Yosemite Valley

Meadow, Oak Forest, and Cliffs - Autumn, Yosemite Valley

Meadow, Oak Forest, and Cliffs – Autumn, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn color on meadow, forest, and cliffs at Yosemite Valley, California.

If it isn’t clear by now… I really like photographing the “treescape” of Yosemite Valley – at any time of the year but especially in the fall.

This was a technically challenging photograph to produce. Several things attracted me to the scene including the color of the shaded oak in the right foreground, the subtle light on the tree trunks coming from the reflection from a cliff that is far out of the frame to the left, the very yellow tree just left of the center of the frame, and the sunlit slopes of the Valley walls beyond, carpeted with trees. In addition to finding the right spot to “see” all of this, the exposure issues were challenging.

Dynamic range was obviously one issue. The foreground oak and certain other elements are in relatively dark shade, yet these areas include important details. At the same time, the far cliff is in full sun and – to add to the fun – includes some very reflective sections of rock that are extremely bright. The solution for me was to make two exposures – one for the shaded foreground areas and another for the distant and very bright cliff. The two images were then blended in post-production using masks. (For those who know the term “HDR,” this is not HDR.)

The second problem had to do with color balance and/or color perception. Though you might not “see” it while standing there looking at the scene, there are some very complex issues here with the color of the light. On one hand there are elements that naturally have very warm tones, including parts of the meadow in the sun and that small very yellow oak tree left of center. But other elements are actually very blue – the foreground, shaded vegetation and parts of the meadow because they are illuminated primarily by the very blue open sky above, and the distant hillside because of the haze in the Valley. Our eyes and brain “correct” for this when we are on the scene and we don’t recognize these color issues – to us it just “looks the way it looks” when we are standing there. However, put this lighting in a photograph “as is” and it looks quite wrong! So I had to make some selective color adjustments to move these areas a bit away from the blue tones and in the case of the far cliff to desaturate a bit. Some of this could be done in a general way, but other parts of it had to be done bit by bit using masks.

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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Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley

Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley

Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell– all rights reserved.

A dense cottonwood grove near the Merced River illuminated by afternoon light, Yosemite Valley, California.

Near Leidig Meadow in Yosemite Valley but closer to the banks for the Merced River there are many stands of cottonwood trees. This is one of the denser stands, and as the leaves turn fall colors it beautifully catches the warm afternoon light coming up the Valley from the west and is set of by the much darker and less colorful shaded face of the tall cliffs beyond.

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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Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow

Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow

Four Black Oaks in Autumn, El Capitan Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four black oak trees with autumn colors in morning light, El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley, California.

This group of trees has achieved near-icon status, having been photographed many times in many ways in many seasons and in a wide variety of lighting conditions by many photographers. (Whew..) Several factors have perhaps led to them being photographed so often. First, the group has some very appealing features, especially their close spacing and the gentle curves of their forms along with their location in an area with a lot of surrounding empty space but still with interesting background further away. Secondly, and probably as a result of the previous factors, they have been photographed often enough that many people are familiar with wonderful photographs of the group by any of a number of well-known photographers. Finally, I cannot ignore the fact that they are only a few feet away from one a very popular place to pull off the road – in fact it is entirely possible to frame up an effective composition while standing next to your car!

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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