“Snow-dusted Highlands Peak” — A highlands summit rises above a sun-dappled hill.
After six weeks of travel, almost two weeks of it in beautiful Scotland, some location memories begin to blur together. I cannot say precisely where I made this photograph. It was on the day we left Skye and made our way north to Ullapool. My recollection is that we had perhaps passed through some rain at a high point on the route, and we came to this peak and its foreground hill as the weather was beginning to clear, allowing a bit of sunlight into the scene. (It is hard to identify these Scottish peaks after returning back to the US, but this one may be Spidean Coire nan Clach.)
“Forest and Loch” — Forest scene above Loch Lochy on the Great Glen Way, Scotland.
Scotland’s Great Glen Way runs between Fort William in the south and Inverness in the north, roughly following the route of the Caledonian Canal connecting a series of “lochs,” or long lakes. To generalize, the route takes walkers (and some cyclists) through several kinds of terrain — along the shoreline of the lochs, on level paths next to the canal, past agricultural areas, through hillside forests, and occasionally to the highlands country. Almost everywhere, with the partial exception of the highlands, everything is green… as in this photograph of a hillside forest, one of the lochs, and distant mountains.
The body of water is Loch Lochy, one of the three lochs on the route. (The others are the smaller Loch Oich and the huge Loch Ness.) There would normally a route closer to its shoreline, but trail work took us up into the mountains on this day, and through many forested sections like this one. The Scottish forests are dense and very green, but they are also managed for forestry. It isn’t unusual to be walking through thick woods and suddenly come upon heavy logging equipment and hillsides denuded of trees. The foreground in this picture is one such area after some years of regrowth.
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.
Early evening light on Lembert Done, Yosemite National Park.
During the last week of summer I finally managed to get up into the Sierra Nevada high country for the first time this season. (As you may know, we were traveling outside the US for most of the summer.) It was great to be back “home” in the Sierra — though the weather conditions were a bit… “interesting.” I encountered thunder and lightning, wind, rain, and even snow! Despite (or perhaps because of?) that weather, I managed to make this photograph of late light on some familiar Tuolumne Meadows during a brief clearing before sunset.
Folks who know Tuolumne Meadows will probably recognize at least a few things in this photograph. A bit of the meadow is, of course, visible in the foreground, just below the trees in the sunlight. The main geologic feature is Lembert Dome, which dominates the local view here, and to its left is its partner, Dog Dome. In the distance over the right shoulder of Lembert Dome is Mount Dana, the second-tallest peak in Yosemite, with its summit covered by clouds.
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.
The Temblor Range and spring growth, Carrizo Plain National Monument.
One the first day of this recent visit to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, I arrived in the middle of the afternoon. I had driven down from the San Francisco Bay Area, choosing to start out later than sometimes since I knew I would not get there for first light. My plan was to arrive in time to set up a campsite and then head out for some late-day and evening photography. I arrived, found a campsite at a location a few miles into the hills on a gravel road, and then travelled back down toward the valley a couple of hours before sunset.
This was among the first photographs of the afternoon. Conditions were quite interesting — rain showers were about (and, in fact, I set up my camp in light rain) but there was also sunlight between the showers. Longer views often included some of the rain, some dark shadows under clouds, and patches of sunlight moving across the landscape. Here I found a place where those bit of sunlight fell on a close hill full of new plants and yellow flowers, and where the longer (ten mile) view across the valley looked out on the location of the San Andreas Fault and the base of the Temblor Range.
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.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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