Tag Archives: crest

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

Mount Dana

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Mount Dana
Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds

Mount Dana. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Dana, against a sky full of summer thunder clouds.

This photograph comes from last summer, on a lovely mid-July day when I was slowly poking around a few locations near the eastern Yosemite boundary on a relatively early visit to the high country. You never know, from year to year, what you’ll find there in July. In a very snowy year this scene could still hold a lot of snow, but in 2018 the snowfall had been less impressive, and most of it was already gone. The creeks were still high and meadow grasses were coming up, with the promise of wildflowers soon to arrive.

The peak itself is on the park boundary, and the view here looks toward the side that is inside the park. However, my camera location was outside the park, in an area that has long intrigued me — for this view, for views back up to the crest north of Tioga Pass, and for some of the more intimate nearby views. It was a cloudy day, and alternative light and shadow moved across the landscape, changing the appearance from moment to moment.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trail of Boulders

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Trail of Boulders
Afternoon light on early autumn vegetation in the Eastern Sierra, and a trail of boulders crossing a meadow

Trail of Boulders. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Afternoon light on early autumn vegetation in the Eastern Sierra, and a trail of boulders crossing a meadow

This became a familiar bit of terrain during our weeklong (plus a bit) photography visit to an Eastern Sierra backcountry area last September. Our routine is to establish a base camp, photograph in the immediate vicinity, and then start working outward to photograph areas a bit further away. The area through which this trail passed became a favorite, and we walked this route many times.

There is a lot to observe in this scene. Perhaps one of the first obvious features is the trail of boulders crossing the meadow. Sierra Nevada backcountry travels might be struck by something about this — most meadow trails are either deep ruts, dug out by many hikers and animals, or they have been moved out of the meadows and onto tougher terrain. The extensive use of boulders here is unusual. (I wonder if it a good thing for avoiding the scarring of the typical deeply grooved trail, or if it might have been better to re-route.) Note the open quality of the forested terrain here — it is typical of the high country not far below the tree line. The trail is heading off towards higher country and, in fact, the trail runs out only yards beyond this point. Above that is a headwall and huge talus slopes which can be climbed, but only by those willing to travel cross-country. Finally, the peaks that lie dead ahead are on the Sierra Nevada crest itself.

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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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

End-Of-Summer Light

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End-Of-Summer Light
Late season Sierra Nevada light in the John Muir Wilderness

End-Of-Summer Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late season Sierra Nevada light in the John Muir Wilderness

As you may have figured out if you follow my work, I often photograph very early and very late in the day, especially when I have access to soft light. On trips like the one where I made this series of photographs the day follows an unusual schedule. We are typically up very early (before dawn) for a few hours of photography, we return to camp to hang out and take care of various camp duties in the middle of the day, and in late afternoon we once again head out into the field, frequently not arriving back in camp until after dark.

But sometimes the light is beautiful outside of those limited hours. There could be special weather conditions — fog, storm clouds, haze — or a landscape that is amenable to midday photography. In the Sierra there is a period from middle September until the first real snows come that can produce some of the most beautiful daytime light I know. I think of it as golden light, and it comes on clear, cool days when the fall colors are arriving. This was one of those days, with the lakeside grasses turning yellow and the water very still, when I made this photograph near the outlet of a small, subalpine lake.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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

Autumn Color, Sierra Nevada Crest

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Autumn Color, Sierra Nevada Crest
Mountainsides of autumn aspen color rise toward the Sierra Nevada crest

Autumn Color, Sierra Nevada Crest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mountainsides of autumn aspen color rise toward the Sierra Nevada crest

I had a whole bunch of other photographs (late-summer in the Sierra, European travel/street photography) queued up to post right about now… but fall color is currently happening, and it seems better to post the timely stuff. With that in mind, here is another Sierra Nevada fall color photograph, with others to come shortly. By the way, if you are wondering when to go to the Eastern Sierra to see (mostly) aspen fall color, the core season generally includes about the first three weeks of October, with the middle week often being the most reliable. So, as of today… there is still time!

This is probably a familiar scene to those who travel around the Sierra Nevada’s east side in October to search for aspen color. This valley and these peaks are in one of the more popular locations — though, in truth, you can find good aspen color up and down the east side of the range and in a few places west of the crest, too. I’m most often in this particular spot quite early in the day, but I made this photograph later in the afternoon, when backlight illuminated and highlighted the aspen colors, a few clouds cast moving shadows across the scene, and a gentle haze softened the details of the highest peaks.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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Email

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