Tag Archives: clouds

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap

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Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap
Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap as evening sun strikes peaks around the upper basin – Sequoia National Park, California.

Upper Hamilton Lake is located on the High Sierra Trail in Sequoia National Park, and is the traditional camping spot before climbing over Kaweah Gap on the ridge in this photograph. I arrived there on August 6, 2008 on the second day of nine-day trans-Sierra backpacking trip from Crescent Meadow to Whitney portal, and we left the next morning to climb the Gap and head to points east.

This photograph was made in the evening as the sun set, sending its light through the narrow opening of the canyon to the west toward the wall at the upper end of the lake – while the high ridge is still in sunlight the lake and surrounding slopes are already in shadow. The photograph was made from a position not more than ten or twelve feet from my campsite.

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Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

El Capitan, Clouds Rest, and Half Dome – Morning Light

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El Capitan, Clouds Rest, and Half Dome - Morning Light
El Capitan, Clouds Rest, and Half Dome – Morning Light. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hardly need to identify the subject of this photograph! It was taken from that place – the Wawona Tunnel View. Although it is nearly impossible to create a new view of this scene, I’ll mention a few things that are different from the usual “line up with other photographers and photograph the sunset” shots. This was done with a rather long lens – shot with the 100-400mm, it is morning, the actual light was quite hazy and filtered.

As to why anyone would shoot this spot… well, there is a reason that everyone stops and gawks from this spot… ;-) Sometimes I stop there as I pass by and don’t bother to even get the camera out.

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Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point

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Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point
Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point. Yosemite National Park, California. April 27, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening photograph of Yosemite Valley from Old Inspiration Point. Inspiration Point was the equivalent to the Wawona Tunnel View before the tunnel was constructed, back at a time when an older route provided a road into the Valley. On this late April evening I decided to forego the usual crowd of photographers at the more accessible overlook and climb the steep 1.3 mile trail up to this beautiful spot – where I enjoyed a sunset view of the Valley alone (except for a couple of neighborhood deer) and in complete silence.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Salt Flats Near Badwater

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Salt Flats Near Badwater

Salt Flats Near Badwater. Death Valley National Park, California. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening on the salt flats near Badwater – Death Valley National Park.

I have to admit that this is a bit of a cliche photography location. I’ve been both lucky and unlucky when shooting here. In terms of photographs of the Panamint Range – which towers above the west side of Death Valley and is not really visible in this photo – I’ve been lucky: on several occasions I’ve had wonderful late afternoon clouds with light columns shining through as the sun dropped behind the mountains. On the other hand, I’ve found it difficult to shoot these formations on the salt flats. Earlier this year, I shot there with my my brother, who pointed me to a spot a bit south of where I had attempted to photograph these features in the past, and it turned to be a better location.

In my experience, photographing these “ridges on the salt flat” is a bit tricky. Continue reading Salt Flats Near Badwater →