Tag Archives: cliff

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

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Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow. Yosemite National Park, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpenglow illuminates fog in the valleys below Clouds Rest at twilight. Yosemite National Park.

Luck was with me on my drive back from Aspen hunting in the eastern Sierra during the first weekend of October 2008. Although I originally planned to return to the Bay Area via Monitor Pass, I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to instead return over Tioga Pass. After passing through Tuolumne Meadows a half hour before sunset, I continued on and near Tenaya Lake I noticed that fog was forming in the aftermath of the weather front that had come through a day before.

When I arrived at Olmsted Point and its famous view of Tenaya Lake and Half Dome, the fog had completely blocked the view. I wasn’t really planning on shooting here so I continued on. A few seconds later after rounding a bend in the road I saw that the fog was barely blocking the light of the setting sun, and that rocks and trees were being gently illuminated through the fog. I’ll post that photo later along with a bit more information about the scene.

In any case, I finally got back to my car and began what I thought would be a direct drive home, since the light was now fading quickly. I drove on for a few more minutes, came around a bend at the top of a rise, and saw this stunning scene of Clouds Rest rising above the valley fog and illuminated by alpenglow. Not willing to pass this up I stopped again and set up the tripod/camera and made a few exposures of this incredible and rare view.

keywords: clouds, rest, mountain, ridge, fog, mist, evening, twilight, alpenglow, forest, tree, cliff, snow, fall, autumn, tioga, road, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, night, sierra, nevada, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow and Morning Fog, Half Dome and Glacier Point

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Meadow and Morning Fog, Half Dome and Glacier Point

Meadow and Morning Fog, Half Dome and Glacier Point. Yosemite National Park, California. April 21, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning fog above an oak-studded meadow in Yosemite Valley, with the cliffs of Half Dome and Glacier Point above. Yosemite National Park, California.

This is a photograph I recently revisited. It was made on a very cold April spring morning in the Valley as the sunlight began to stream over Half Dome and illuminate the Glacier Point apron and as ground fog began to lift from meadows on the floor of the Valley.

keywords: early, morning, dawn, light, fog, mist, meadow, grass, oak, tree, forest, half dome, glacier point, cloud, sky, silhouette, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, scenic, travel, landscape, nature, stock, cliff, granite

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape

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Precipice Lake - Imaginary Landscape
Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very subjective view of Precipice Lake, Sequoia National Park, California.

Another take on Precipice Lake, this one is not intended to be a literal depiction of the scene. The image has been manipulated in several ways such that it perhaps belongs in the same category with some of my other photos that I describe as “imaginary landscapes.” Part of the “game” with this one was to reduce saturation to the point where it may seem almost but not quite like a black and white image. I like to think of it as being “subjectively true” without being objectively accurate. (Though, frankly, you can say that about essentially any photograph – I suppose this one may just be a bit further from the objective reality that some others I’ve done.)

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.

keywords: predicipice, lake, cliff, water, snow, rock, pattern, reflection, kaweah, gap, high, sierra, trail, nevada, california, usa, imaginary, landscape, altered, processed, subjective, ansel adams, sequoia, national park, mountain, alpine, talus, pattern

Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Point Reyes

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Point Reyes
Point Reyes. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. June 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of Point Reyes and the Pacific Ocean with afternoon reflections. This photograph was made in extraordinarily windy conditions from a high point a bit further along the bluffs of the point with late afternoon sunlit brightly illuminating the ocean surface. (There is also a black and white version of this photograph.)

keywords: california, national, seashore, coast, cliff, bluff, mountain, park, pacific ocean, spring, point reyes, sea, shore, wild, nature, sky, haze, distance, travel, landscape, seascape, stock