Tag Archives: clouds

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel

Piazza Grande, Arezzo

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Piazza Grande, Arezzo
“Piazza Grande, Arezzo” — Buildings along the perimeter of the Piazza Grande, Arezzo, Italy.

During the summer of 2023 we went on a 10-week ramble though (mostly) Southern Europe. During the latter part of the trip we made a circuit through portions of Italy over a period of about three weeks. We made a point of visiting a few smaller places like this town of Arezzo. It isn’t entirely devoid of tourists, but it is nothing like the big, popular places. The photograph comes from the “Piazza Grande,” or grand square, in the upper part of the town.

It is a fascinating place. One signature feature of the square is that it tilts. It is built near the top of a hill in this high part of the town, and the slope is quite impressive. The square is surrounded by buildings that are hundreds of years old. We were there a couple of times, but on this afternoon we got there just before a thunderstorm arrived. and we quickly took refuge in a restaurant beneath a portico on the piazza as the storm began.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape

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Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape
“Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape” — Dissipating afternoon storm clouds above Mono Craters.

I made this photograph at the end of a beautiful afternoon of aspen photography that was enhanced by the passage of impressive thunder storms. I had completed the day’s aspen photography and dropped back down into the high desert along US 395 in the Mono Lake area when the clouds began to thin and break up and glow in evening light. Here some lenticular clouds were forming over the Mono Craters.

The Mono Craters comprise an interesting bit of geology that we might not automatically associate with the Sierra Nevada. We tend to think of the range being built by the uplift of gigantic “blobs” of granite, with deeply eroded overlaying material above. But volcanic processes were at work out here, too. Mono Craters are a particularly obvious example that you cannot miss as you drive south from Mono Lake — and part of a chain of volcanic cones extending from the north short of the lake to south of Mammoth Mountain.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Community, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds

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Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds
“Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds” — Clouds glow in the final sunset light above Mt. Dana.

There is a special autumn feeling in the Sierra high country that I love. It is hard to describe, and it may be the sum of a variety of seasonal features. Summer is a time of wild abundance as the plants (and the mosquitos!) take advantage of the short growing season. Within a couple of months it comes to an end and things go dormant in preparation for the coming winter. There are fewer human visitors, too — though sadly it isn’t quite as deserted as it used to be. The intense light of summer is gone, replaced by softer, golden, and often hazy light.

This was one of those evenings. I was traveling through the Yosemite high country between Tioga Pass and Tuolumne Meadows, and the place was nearly deserted. Clouds low enough to obscure peaks were drifting about, and the last sunlight turned the west edge of the cloud bank bright red/orange. I stopped here, made a few photographs, and watched as the color faded from the sky.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake, Evening

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Black Point, Mono Lake, Evening
“Black Point, Mono Lake, Evening” — Evening clouds above Mono Lake and Black Point.

I made this photograph on an autumn evening after incoming clouds had ended my aspen photography for the day. I decided to make a quick run down to the shoreline of Mono Lake to see if there might be any interesting dusk light. The conditions were a bit subtle, but I think that they are actually representative of what we’re likely to see at Mono in the evening when clouds over the Great Basin dissipate and the lake is in shadow.

This particular bit of shoreline has long intrigued me. (I’m not the only one!) In many places along its edge we look straight out at the immensity of this lake, but in this spot we instead have a view along the shoreline, past bays and Black Point, toward volcanic islands and then desert mountains in the far distance.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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