Tag Archives: conifer

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

Forest, After Snow

March 11, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Densely intertwining forest trees after a Yosemite Valley snow storm

My previous day in Yosemite Valley had drawn to a close as snow showers dropped a few inches of snow. A blustery and cold little weather front had arrived, bringing showers — the sort of weather than gives you a few minutes of impressive snowfall, followed moments later by the light breaking through. On my way out of the Valley — I was staying up at Wawona — I had stopped to photograph it before starting that snowy drive back to my cabin.

I suspected that the weather would clear the next morning and that bright light and new-fallen snow could turn out to be my subject. My first thought had been to head for Tunnel View, not usually my first choice for Yosemite Valley photography at this point, but potentially very beautiful in these conditions. But when I arrived there the completely clear skies produced a rather mundane sort of scene, at least by comparison to what I had hoped for. (I know… that view is never actually “mundane,” but I’m more likely to photograph it when something really special happens these days.) But further down in the Valley I passed an area of skeletal trees, mostly without leaves or needles, that still held snow and was back-lit. The location was about as non-iconic as you can find in the Valley, but I stopped and wandered off into this forest scene to photograph the patters of branches, trunks, and snow.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Meadow, Autumn Light

November 13, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hazy autumn light and trees in a Yosemite Valley meadow

Every autumn the Sierra Nevada experiences days when the air is full of wildfire smoke. It was only recently that I came to recognize that a large component of what I’ve always identified as “autumn light” is the atmospheric haze from wildfires — not just those nearby in the Sierra, but including the diffused smoke from wildfires further away in California and even beyond California’s borders. Yes, the lower angle light is part of the effect, but it is the soft and hazy atmosphere that is perhaps the most major element. I’m amazed that it took me this long to fully make the connection, but also happy to find there are still new things to “discover” and understand!

The atmospheric light in this photograph is the result of this effect. It was a very smoky day in Yosemite Valley — the sort of day when you might consider wearing a breathing mask. A big fire was still smoldering just south of Yosemite Valley, its smoke collecting each evening and then flowing downwards into the Valley. I made the photograph just as the edge of the shadow from nearby cliffs was beginning to cross this meadow, and the sunlight caused the smokey atmosphere to glow behind the trees. It is easy to think of wildfire smoke as an impediment to photography, but if you turn your thinking around just a bit you soon realize that these conditions can provide some very special and even lovely possibilities, ranging from the muted and slightly sienna tones of the light to enhanced effects of atmospheric recession. The potentials for producing moody and evocative photographs may actually increase on days like this!

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Morning, Autumn Color

October 25, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early morning autumn colors in the underbrush of a Yosemite forest.

I like to visit Yosemite National Park every year around Halloween, when fall colors often peak in Yosemite Valley — including oaks, dogwood, cottonwood, big leaf maple, and more. This year I went a bit earlier — slightly more than a week before the end of October — since I wanted to drop in on a gallery opening reception in Oakhurst, for the last hurrah of the 2017 Yosemite Renaissance exhibit, which includes one of my photographs. I went up on the day of the opening, starting in Yosemite Valley. I spent the day photographing, but also marveling at the astoundingly huge number of people who were crowding the place. I try to avoid The Valley in the summer, especially on weekends, but I figured that October wouldn’t be so bad. I was wrong! In any case, by going away from the most popular places and a few other strategies, I was able to find some relative solitude.

I stayed in Oakhurst than night and then got up well before dawn the next morning. My loose plan was to head toward Glacier Point for sunrise, but I was sidetracked along the way — first by these fall colors and later by the opportunity to photograph a forest covered with wildfire smoke. Regarding that color, I already knew that there can be a lot of beautiful color along the road between Oakhurst and the Valley, and that it can be especially beautiful very early in the morning, when there are few people and the direct sunlight has still not arrived. I found this spot that I had scoped out the previous day, and I paused for some photography. Subjects like this are about as far from “iconic” as one can be, but they often evoke deeper associations with the feelings of such places than photographs of another popular mountain. As I made this photograph it was quiet, still, and cold, and the pre-dawn light was filtering down into the darkened forest. The colorful underbrush was the first thing I saw, but soon I realized the quiet beauty of the tall trees in this burned-over area as they marched up the hill toward the light.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspens and Conifers

October 24, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall color before sunrise in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

I had visited this place a few days earlier on a separate visit, and at that time the colors were still not fully developed. At that time I wasn’t sure I would be back, since I have photographed this area quite a few times in the past, and I figured that my subsequent visit might take me to different areas of the Sierra. However, I’m an opportunist and I often make decisions about where I’ll go and what I’ll photograph quite close to the last minute, responding to circumstances and conditions. And on this morning, a visit to this spot looked promising.

Each year the color change patterns are a bit different. A spot that might be green one year on a particular date may be in full color during another year, or it might simply lose its leaves without changing. While things tend to happen at fairly similar times each year — with some exceptions — the state of the trees at those points in time can vary. For example, I have come to this spot at about this time and found the lower portion of the grove almost devoid of leaves, likely in the aftermath of cold and wind. This time the color still looked good, thought I could tell that at the lower edges it wasn’t going to last a lot longer. I as also intrigued by the somewhat unusual band of green trees still found in the bottom of the ascending gully.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: conifer

Forest, After Snow

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Trees, Meadow, Autumn Light

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Forest, Morning, Autumn Color

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Aspens and Conifers

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.