Tag Archives: dawn

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

South Tufa, Morning

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South Tufa, Morning

South Tufa, Morning. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of early morning at South Tufa, Mono Lake, California.

This black and white panorama was photographed on my early June, 2009 visit to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake. Earlier that morning I had photographed the more typical early morning golden light of dawn on the tufa towers from a closer position. This photograph was more or less a last-minute afterthought, as I had completed the photography I had in mind on this morning and had pack up. I was actually leaving the shoreline when I happened to look back at this view that includes many tufa towers and I noticed the two small clouds (remnants of more extensive dawn clouds) centered over the towers.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

First Light, South Tufa

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First Light, South Tufa

First Light, South Tufa. Mono Lake, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First light of dawn illuminates tufa towers and distant mountain at Mono Lake, California.

This photograph was made at the usual spot – anyone who has photographed at Mono (and who hasn’t!? :-) knows that the most consistent spot to shoot sunrise light is at the South Tufa area, down the road from highway 395 a bit south of Lee Vining. On a good morning you’ll have at least some clouds, and the location of those clouds may dictate what your foreground subject is; do you want to shoot to the north and the low hills, to the east and towards the sunrise, or toward the Sierra Nevada crest? You arrive very early, usually well before dawn, and walk out to the edge of the water where the towers are. You find a composition and wait, with the only sounds the cries of seagulls (a sound I immediately associate with Mono) and possibly the voices of other photographers. The sky begins to lighten and then, almost before you know it, the warm glow of the first dawn light begins to light up the towers. (Am I the only one who marvels that this happens in almost complete silence?)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

First Light, Mount Gibbs

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First Light, Mount Gibbs

First Light, Mount Gibbs. Yosemite National Park, California. July 11, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First morning light shines across the face of Mt. Gibbs above Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park, California.

This photograph was made in the early morning alongside Tioga Meadow, the large meadow just below Tioga Pass inside the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park, as the first sun crept over the Sierra crest and began to hit the upper slopes of Mt. Gibbs. This is one of my favorite locations along Tioga Pass Road, probably because it is the highest area right at the pass but also because of the extensive rolling meadows containing the skeletons of trees knocked down by avalanches and because of the proximity to much higher peaks, such as Mt. Dana.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Morning at the Rhyolite School

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Morning at the Rhyolite School

Morning at the Rhyolite School. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light slants through the windows and across the floor of the old schoolhouse in the ghost town of Rhyolite Nevada.

Although it is not the most iconic structure at the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada (very close to Death Valley National Park), I’m intrigued by the ruins of the old Rhyolite School. It is one of the more intact structures – while the roof is gone, many of the walls are still standing, as is the main floor seen in the photo. I like to photograph both the exterior and interior of this structure. There is something compelling about the school with its missing roof and windows leaving the interior open to the sky, and this building makes me think about the lives of the people who lived here more than other buildings like the bank and railroad station.

I made this photograph in the early morning after photographing dawn light on the bank building and the distance Amargosa Valley and Mountains and, beyond that, Telescope Peak in Death Valley’s Panamint Range. The sun was still fairly low, providing the slanting light though the windows. If you look closely at the far windows you can make out some of the other buildings of Rhyolite.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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