Tag Archives: dark

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Young Trees, Dark Forest

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Young Trees, Dark Forest Young Trees, Dark Forest
Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest

Young Trees, Dark Forest. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest.

After decades of hiking, camping, backpacking, photographing, skiing, (and in an earlier life occasionally climbing) all over the Sierra, there are odd little unexpected places that have some personal significance to me. In a few cases they are associated with a specific, memorable — there are several, for example, for each of my “kids.” (The “kids” are now all grown, but i remember!) Others connect to travels with backcountry friends or to events that occur there. In some cases, the development of a connection seems to be almost random, and there is nothing at all that points to them in any particularly objective way.

This is one of those latter spots. It isn’t far from a road, and I’ve always been attracted to the views for a mile or two on either side of the spot. But this place? There’s barely a turnout along the road. There is a narrow strip of meadow that runs quickly into thick, high-elevation forest, and it usually has a dark and impenetrable appearance. Logically I know what is beyond it, but it never quite feels like I do. And every year, more than once, I stop again and look at it and perhaps make a few photographs.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Panamint Lake

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Panamint Lake
Panamint Lake spreads across Panamint Valley following heavy winter rains

Panamint Lake. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Panamint Lake spreads across Panamint Valley following heavy winter rains.

Death Valley National Park visitors who arrive from the west or southwest almost certainly drive through Panamint Valley — whether traversing a good part of its length when driving north from Ridgecrest and Trona arriving after driving across from Owens Valley and US 395. The area was not originally part of the park but was added more recently. Despite being framed by big, rugged mountain ranges on either side, it is more typically a place people drive “through” rather than “to.”

It is also generally a very dry place. But near its upper end there is a typical desert playa… which necessarily implies that the area is periodically flooded during wet periods. This spring I passed through twice on visits that were about a month apart. The first time followed a very wet period and the usually dry playa was covered by a very large, shallow lake… of which there were virtually no traces one month later.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm

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Spring Meadow, Passing Storm
Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance

Spring Meadow, Passing Storm. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunlight on a flower-filled spring meadow with storm clouds in the distance.

This spring I was fortunate to be able to chase the spring wildflower bloom over a period of more than two months. (And I’m not done yet!) I visited this location twice, once near the end of March and again a few weeks later in early April when this wet-year bloom was more or less reaching its peak in this area. In some ways the springtime transformation in California areas like this one is doubly impressive, as these places are generally brown (or as we say, “golden”) during the majority of the year.

On the day of this visit there were scattered springtime rain squalls moving across the landscape. One moment it was sunny, and the next moment the sky was darkened by clouds and rain fell. Distant landscapes combined the patterns of shadows and the light. I had just made my camp in the hills and was descending back to the valley to chase the wildflowers when I stopped briefly to photograph this sunlit meadow backed by the dark skies of one of the passing showers.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Sand Storm and Dunes

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Sand Storm and Dunes
A sand storm darkens the sky above dunes in Death Valley National Park.

Sand Storm and Dunes. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sand storm darkens the sky above dunes in Death Valley National Park.

By now I’m perhaps starting to sound a bit like a broken record when I describe the experience of sand storms like this one, but bear with me (at least) one more time. We had arrived here after a couple of hours of chasing the atmospheric conditions produced by this sand storm. At this spot I stood in the shelter of our vehicle, with the strong winds at my back, and photographed straight into the area that was the source of the storm that was filling the terrain with dust all the way up into the Panamint Range.

This was an “awesome” experience in the classic sense of provoking a sense of awe in the face of the power of this event, and it was (as it always is) a reminder of how small we are by comparison. This photograph looks across a section of playa towards sand dunes being whipped by the winds. Clouds of sand and dust were being picked up and carried swiftly across the landscape and into the sky, nearly obliterating the sunlight coming from the other side of the cloud. (As you look at this, imagine the clouds of dust streaming from left to right across the scene.)

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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