Tag Archives: dissipate

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sky

Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape

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Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape
“Mono Craters, Evening Cloudscape” — Dissipating afternoon storm clouds above Mono Craters.

I made this photograph at the end of a beautiful afternoon of aspen photography that was enhanced by the passage of impressive thunder storms. I had completed the day’s aspen photography and dropped back down into the high desert along US 395 in the Mono Lake area when the clouds began to thin and break up and glow in evening light. Here some lenticular clouds were forming over the Mono Craters.

The Mono Craters comprise an interesting bit of geology that we might not automatically associate with the Sierra Nevada. We tend to think of the range being built by the uplift of gigantic “blobs” of granite, with deeply eroded overlaying material above. But volcanic processes were at work out here, too. Mono Craters are a particularly obvious example that you cannot miss as you drive south from Mono Lake — and part of a chain of volcanic cones extending from the north short of the lake to south of Mammoth Mountain.

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.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Headlands, Clearing Fog

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Headlands, Clearing Fog
“Headlands, Clearing Fog” — Headlands drop precipitously into the Pacific Ocean as fog thins in the distance along rugged the Big Sur Coast.

Although I have visited and photographed the Big Sur Coast for decades, I find new subjects or new ways to see old subjects every time I go. However, I have a confession to make about this particular subject. I go back to it on almost every visit and continue to photograph it despite there being quite a few previous versions in my archives. I think I do this partly because the conditions change (here it is almost backlit and the distant fog is layered), and partly just because I find this feature so intriguing. On a coastline full of steep precipices dropping into the sea, this one stands out.

I was down there again in mid-August. As is often the case, I decide to go based on the weather forecast. This time it called for somewhat persistent fog along the coast, and I was expecting to be able to work with that murky subject. Imagine my surprise, after driving through truly dense fog near the Salinas Valley, when I arrived at the coast to find it virtually clear!

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.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Clearing Storm Clouds

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Clearing Storm Clouds
Blue sky appears as storm clouds dissipate above the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Clearing Storm Clouds. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Blue sky appears as storm clouds dissipate above the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Perhaps the most interesting skies are associated with transitions from one kind of weather to another. This includes not only the arrival of storms but also their departure. If the storm has been large and long, the first hints of its passage bring a feeling of home and light. Thinner areas appear in the cloud cover, in some places the sky becomes more blue than gray, perhaps a bit of sunlight shines through. The storm usually doesn’t depart all at once — more likely in fits and starts as lingering clouds move in and out.

After more than 24 hours of mostly rain, some of it heavy, the clearing finally began in the very late afternoon of the second day of our Sierra backcountry visit. At first we mostly just noticed that the rain had stopped, even though the clouds were thick and gray. We left our tents and wandered out to overlooks, hoping to make some photographs. Gradually the clouds rose higher, and gaps began to appear. Soon a bit of light came over the ridge to our west and the clouds over the lowlands to the east began to break up, revealing blue sky.

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.

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

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest

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Evening Storm, Sierra Crest
An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

The Sierra Nevada crest runs just northwest of this area in northern Yosemite National Park, and the mountains here rise to rugged, rocky heights, in places high enough to be topped by the older geological layers that were lifted up on top of the material that produced the range. This is alpine country — in places it is easy to travel since the landscape is so open, but eventually you’ll run up against these jagged peaks.

On this evening I had ascended some gentler — though still quite rocky — terrain not far from our camp, originally with the idea of photographing a large valley to our west and the peaks beyond it. Just before sunset I started to descend, coming back around the shoulder of “my” ridge and turning toward this line of peaks to the east and the remnants of a huge dissipating thunderhead on the other side of the crest.

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.

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

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