Tag Archives: dense

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

Cottonwood Grove, Shadow’s Edge

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Cottonwood Grove, Shadow's Edge


Cottonwood Grove, Shadow’s Edge. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A grove of autumn cottonwood trees in the last sun as late afternoon shadows fall across the floor of Yosemite Valley near Yosemite Falls.

Late in the afternoon on Halloween this year I was in Leidig Meadow in Yosemite Valley watching the light dim along the cliff faces near Yosemite Falls. As the shadow moved across the Valley toward the meadow it lit this row of cottonwood trees growing between the meadow and the banks of the Merced River.

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

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

Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley

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Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley

Cottonwood Grove, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell– all rights reserved.

A dense cottonwood grove near the Merced River illuminated by afternoon light, Yosemite Valley, California.

Near Leidig Meadow in Yosemite Valley but closer to the banks for the Merced River there are many stands of cottonwood trees. This is one of the denser stands, and as the leaves turn fall colors it beautifully catches the warm afternoon light coming up the Valley from the west and is set of by the much darker and less colorful shaded face of the tall cliffs beyond.

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

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keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, dense, cottonwood, tree, grove, trunk, branch, leaf, leaves, leidig, meadow, grass, brown, green, yellow, cliff, shadow, steep, rock, dense, afternoon, light, usa, stock

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Forest, Sunbeams

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Redwood Forest, Sunbeams

Redwood Forest, Sunbeams. Muir Woods National Monument, California. October 24. 2009. © G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beams of morning sunlight stream between the trees of the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

This is another photograph of the wonderful morning sunlight during my late October visit to Muir Woods National Monument. I usually visit and photograph Muir Woods in softer cloudy or foggy conditions which are, to be honest, easier to photograph. That diffused light lights the shadows and reduces the overall dynamic range of the scenes. However on this morning the sun was out and the light was magical, streaming through the forest canopy and between the giant trees to light up the air and the forest floor.

I perhaps mentioned that the previous photograph I posted from Muir Woods required me to merge two exposures to deal with this huge dynamic range – but this one required three exposures separated from each other by 2-stop brackets! The brightest exposure captured some detail in the trunks of the trees and the plants near the bottom of the frame, while the darkest exposure let me retain a bit of the branch detail in the very bright area where the light comes through between the trees.

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: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Forest, Morning Light

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Redwood Forest, Morning Light

Redwood Forest, Morning Light. Muir Woods National Monument, California. October 25, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California.

On a late October weekend when I had intended to photograph in Yosemite Valley, I instead ended up shooting at Muir Woods National Monument in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of San Francisco. I shoot here frequently – in fact, some of my photos are sold in the gift shop at the monument – and I’m working on building up a body of work representing a lot of different subjects at different times of the year and in varying conditions.

I often prefer to shoot there when there is overcast or even in fog or rainy conditions. However, on this morning it was sunny! This poses a real challenge when shooting in the redwood groves, since the shaded areas can be quite dark but where a beam of light finds its way to the forest floor or hits plants or trees it can be extremely bright, creating some very wide dynamic range conditions. In order to capture this – and create a photograph that suggests the way I saw the scene at the time of the exposure – I often combine two (and sometimes more) exposures in order to deal with this, which is what I did in this photograph.

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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