Tag Archives: dusk

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

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows

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Runoff Pool, Evening - Tuolumne Meadows

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Grass bordered early summer runoff pool in Toulumne Meadows reflects sunset clouds and the summit of Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.

I made this photograph on a very early-season visit to the Tuolumne Meadows area in early July of this year. Since this was a below-normal precipitation year, the road to the pass cleared a bit on the early side and by early July almost all of the snow was gone at road level – but there was still a good amount of run-off water in Tuolumne Meadows. (Though nothing like in the big precipitation years, when portions of the meadow become more lake than solid ground.) There were some interesting clouds this evening so I wandered out into one of my favorite areas in the lower end of the meadow as the day ended and photographed the new grasses and pools of water that reflected sky, clouds, and surrounding peaks. In the distance the summit of Ragged Peak marks the location of Young Lakes.

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: tuolumne, meadow, tioga, pass, road, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, reflection, runoff, pool, water, surface, grass, ripple, cloud, evening, sunset, dusk, summit, ragged, peak, ridge, forest, granite, blue, orange, green, nature, july, early, summer, nature, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

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

Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Sunset

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Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Sunset

Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Sunset. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. November 22, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sea lions atop the rocks at Punta de los Lobos Marinos at the end of the day – Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

After not getting out to shoot for a couple weeks – too much work at school! – I finally finished grading a giant stack of papers this afternoon and decided to celebrate by making a quick trip down to Point Lobos for a couple hours of photography. As I drove south I saw beautiful broken clouds and blue sky, and I thought that I might encounter some special conditions in – I thought – the wake of the passage of a minor Pacific weather front. As I got closer to Monterey it appeared that there were heavier clouds offshore to the northwest, and when I got to Point Lobos I had less than a half hour to shoot in decent light before the front came through and surprised me with perhaps a half hour of light rain.

I almost left, thinking that I might head further south and catch sunset light nearer to Big Sur just before the front arrived. However, I soon saw that there was light out to sea beyond the clouds and drizzle and I suspect it might soon pass and that perhaps there would be some sunset light. Since the surf was fairly dramatic I decided to head out on the trail to Punta de los Lobos Marinos, the rocky peninsula that extends out from the shore towards offshore rocks populated by sea lions (or are they harbor seals?) and birds. Once I got there I discovered that the post-front wind was whipping up a lot of spray and that the very low angle sun light was back-lighting it and the rocks in dramatic fashion. If you look closely you can see those seals/sea lions atop the foreground rock.

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

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

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Detail, Last Light on El Capitan


Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Recently I wrote about (and confessed to occasionally) photographing icons. You cannot succumb more openly to “icon photography” than by creating a sunset photograph of El Capitan as seen from Wawona Tunnel view – but that is exactly what this is.

I had not originally intended to photograph here, but as I often do, I drove by and stopped on my way to look for another subject. When I arrived I got out of the car and walked to the overlook without my equipment, as I often do, just to take a look at the stupendous view – worth doing whether or not you decide to photograph it. Most of the time I simply enjoy the view and then get back in the car and move on. However, on this evening I noticed some things about the conditions that forced me to consider the possibility that it might be “special” enough to stick around and haul out the camera and tripod. The air was quite clear, but even more potentially interesting, I could see a few low clouds to the west and the sky in that direction looked a bit hazy – both conditions can create intense color at sunset. (If I could have ordered up revisions to the existing scene, I might have requested a few interesting clouds floating around the face of El Cap, but no one seemed interested in taking my order!)

Rather than shooting the usual “valley view” – it takes Really Super Extra Amazing Special Conditions for me to “go there” – I put my longest lens on the camera and decided to “work” details of the scene, particularly looking for boundary areas and interesting shapes and forms. By boundary areas I refer to to beautiful and interesting spots where different things are juxtaposed – a shadow and bright illumination, a soft shape or texture and a harder one, a closer subject and one farther away. As the light evolved this pattern of brilliantly illuminated cliff faces separated by a slightly curving shadow and underlined by the rising shadow emerged.

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, el capitan, cliff, face, shadow, prow, edge, crack, texture, form, ledge, sunset, evening, dusk, sky, clouds, rest, granite, rock, climb, rock, ridge, evening, stock

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

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

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Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite National Park, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Shot from a very famous and popular location, this is a long lens view of the face of El Capitan close to sunset when the light is almsot but not quite directly from behind my position, and when the shadows of the lower mountains to the west begin to rise up the face of the mountain. There is a color version of this photograph also, but the effect is very different. And this one reminds me in a vague way of a certain famous photograph of another Yosemite landmark.

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, el capitan, cliff, face, shadow, prow, edge, crack, texture, form, ledge, sunset, evening, dusk, sky, clouds, rest, granite, rock, climb, rock, ridge, evening, stock, black and white, monochrome