Tag Archives: dusk

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

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

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Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Conness and the shoreline meadow of Lower Young Lake at sunset.

The thin smoke from a wildfire some miles away along the Tuolumne River added some color to the sunset light on the distant ridge whose highest point is Mt. Conness, the tallest peak in along the Yosemite Park border north and west of Tioga Pass. I’ve shot from this spot along the upper shoreline of Lower Young Lake before, in fact the rock along the shoreline was the center point of another photograph I made one misty autumn evening. But this was a different evening; not only because of the somewhat unusual color of the light but also because the small inlet stream was still flowing through the shoreline meadows that still held wildflowers.

On my way back to my tent as darkness fell, I had one of those wonderful serendipitous experiences that happens with surprising frequency in the Sierra. Walking back I happened to take a different route further from the shoreline since that area was quite marshy. As I wandered through a more forested section that I had not been in for a couple years I passed very close to someone’s campsite, and I soon saw two people ahead sitting on a large boulder. I stopped to say “hi” and the older of the two asked, “Are you a photographer?” I offered one of my all-too-frequent wise guy responses, something along the lines of “No, I just like to carry this stuff around so that I look like one.” He looked a bit perplexed, at which point the younger of the two spoke up and said, “Well, he is.”

Turns out that he was photographer Leonard Sussman, and we ended up talking for a good amount of time as the light continued to fade. Leonard is a really interesting fellow, and I was surprised to find out that a “New York photographer” actually came more or less from my stomping grounds in northern California.

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.

keywords: mount, conness, mountain, peak, ridge, young, lake, lower, sierra, nevada, range, evening, dusk, sunset, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, nature, rock, tree, stream, reflection, forest, boulder, shoreline

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

Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset

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Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset

Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset. Yosemite National Park, California. July 29, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on shoreline trees and rocks below rocky hillside above Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park.

This is another in the series of photographs I made on this late-July evening at Upper Young Lake, my favorite of the three in this string of Young Lakes in the Sierra Nevada back-country out of Tuolumne Meadows. This photograph was shot in the last moments before the sun, shining through a bit of smoke from a wildfire in the park, dropped below the rim of the high meadow holding the lake.

I probably could have stayed at this lake and photographed post-sunset light for another half hour beyond sunset. However, the thought of hiking in the dark down a mile-long trail that in places is more cross country than actual trail convinced me to pack up and leave shortly after this.

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.

keywords: shoreline, upper, young, lake, tree, grove, forest, flora, grass, plants, flower, meadow, rock, boulder, talus, scree, cliff, bush, water, surface, reflection, ripple, pink, light, sunset, dusk, evening, yosemite, national park, california, usa, hike, backpack, wilderness, nature, landscape, sierra nevada, range, mountains, snow, stock, travel, scenic, stock, Pinus contorta, murrayana, lodgepole, pine, tamarack

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

Lodgepole Forest, Evening, Tioga Pass

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Lodgepole Forest, Evening, Tioga Pass

Lodgepole Forest, Evening, Tioga Pass. Yosemite National Park, California. July 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The edge of the lodgepole forest near Tioga Pass in evening light – Yosemite National Park, California.

I drive past this grove of trees just inside the Yosemite National Park boundary near Tioga Pass many times each season as I cross the pass. I especially like these densely growing trees in the evening and early morning light when the detail of many trees and even more branches merges into darkness in the distance. I stopped on this evening when the trees at the edge of the forest were mostly illuminated by light reflected from the lower slopes of 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.

keywords: tuolumne, meadow, tioga, pass, road, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, lodgepole, forest, tree, grass, evening, dusk, light, thick, dense, branch, trunk, grove, forest, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne Meadows

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Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne

Meltwater Pond and Grasses, Mount Gibbs and Kuna Crest, Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 8, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening sky is reflected in a meltwater pond at the edge of a Tuolumne Meadows with Mount Gibbs and the Kuna Crest beyond, Yosemite National Park, California.

A rather peaceful evening scene, again at the seasonal runoff ponds near the west end of Tuolumne Meadows on and early July evening. I’m always intrigued by the patterns that the partially submerged meadow grasses make in these ponds, and here in the way they interrupt the sky reflected in the surface of the pond. On this evening I was also struck by the unusual coloration of the clouds about the summit of Mt Gibbs (at the left) and Mammoth Peak and barely-sunlit Kuna Crest in the center and right half of the frame.

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.

keywords: tuolumne, meadows, melt, water, pond, pool, reflection, grass, flowers, blue, pink, green, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, crest, ridge, evening, dusk, sunset, light, mount, gibbs, kuna, crest, mammoth, peak, tree, forest, river, slope, hill, nature, scenic, landscape, travel, nature, stock