Tag Archives: elevation

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Pines

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Sierra Pines
“Sierra Pines” — Dense forest of small, high elevation pine trees in the Sierra Nevada.

These lodgepole pines could be anywhere in a wide range of places in the Sierra Nevada — it is a very common tree found at higher elevations. Its form ranges from tall and upright, through slightly bent (like these trees at the edge of a high forest) to twisted and warped trees growing in rocky annd exposed locations. In the Sierra, lodgepoles are your friends, and you see them everywhere. You have undoubtedly walked among them and camped beneath them.

I photographed this scene in a high valley just outside Yosemite National Park, near the eastern entrance at Tioga Pass. I was up there during autumn to photograph aspens when I got sidetracked by some new snow above this area. Intimate photographs of these trees are often difficult in bright light since the contrasts can be harsh. But shadow light is softer and more forgiving, muting highlights and filling the shadows.

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 in a High Place

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Evening in a High Place
Long evenng view across boulder-filled alpine meadows toward distant peaks, Yosemite National Park.

Evening in a High Place. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Long evenng view across boulder-filled alpine meadows toward distant peaks, Yosemite National Park.

This area is one I’ve visited many times — in fact I used to make an annual ritual out of returning. This place and others like it provide a rare and wonderful thing, the opportunity to wander alone, unbounded by trails, across a vast wilderness landscape, going wherever my interest and abilities may take me.

Recently I have had reason to review photographs from over a decade of visits to the Sierra backcountry with a group of fellow photographers (sometimes referred to as the “First Light group) with whom I’ve been fortunate to share many a golden hour. It is hard to be definitive about when this began, but in this case there are some clear markers in the timeline. Shortly before making this photograph back in 2008 I had just descended from a lake in a rocky hanging valley when I encountered a photographer heading in my direction. The photographers was a part of the group, and after Keith and I spoke briefly we each went our separate ways. Mine took me to this area of open meadows and long vistas as the day ended. As such, this might be considered among first photographs to emerge from this association.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Light on Trees

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Morning Light on Trees
Morning light glances across high elevation trees, Kings Canyon National Park

Morning Light on Trees. Kings Canyon National Park, California. September 17, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light glances across high elevation trees, Kings Canyon National Park

Back in 2013 a small group of us spent roughly a week camped in a beautiful 11,000′ basin in Kings Canyon National Park, photographing a remarkable area of many lakes, intimate landscapes of trees and tarns and granite, and high and desolate ridges and peaks. Such a long stay in one area reveals things about the landscape that are too easily missed on shorter visits, and it gives us the opportunity to photograph in conditions ranging from storms to sunlight.

At the start of such a long trip, despite having made quite a few of them, there is always a bit of concern about spending such a long time in such a small area — “How will I find enough to photograph over such a long time?” This thought crosses my mind still, even though I know that on every previous long trip I have found myself wishing for more time at the end! This photograph comes from my final day of photography in this area, and very soon after I made it we were heading back out to what passes for the “real world.”

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

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

Creek and Meadow Above Evelyn Lake

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Creek and Meadow Above Evelyn Lake

Creek and Meadow Above Evelyn Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trailless meadow and rolling hills along a creek above Evelyn Lake in the Yosemite Naitonal Park back-country near Fletcher Lake.

This type of country, and this area in particular, is perhaps my favorite Sierra terrain. After camping and photographing at Evelyn Lake the previous night, I woke up and spent the morning doing more photography around the lake. My hiking goal for the day was barely a mile away, Fletcher Lake and the meadows near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Instead of just heading up the short trail over the low ridge between the two lakes I began scoping out the easy climb up the granite slabs above Evelyn Lake. From many previous visits to the area I knew that there is a large, rolling subalpine meadow dotted with trees, streams, and boulders in the area roughly bounded by Evelyn, Townsley, and Ireland Lakes. There is no trail through the area, but it is some of the easiest and most pleasant cross-country hiking I know of.

I started by circling around the side of Evelyn Lake near the ascent, gradually angling up and across the rocky hillside. Gradually the terrain steepened and I began to follow benches and gullies up the incline, finally spotting an area just to the left of the inlet stream to the lake that looked like it would provide a good crossing to the plateau. I arrived there and saw the lower area to my right where the creek came down from the plateau, so I headed over that way and intersected the shallow gully holding this stream and several small, seasonal ponds. After stopping here to make a few photographs, I continued ambling up this little valley and eventually crossed a broad flat area, passed by a couple alpine tarns, and finally descended past Townsley Lake to reach Fletcher Lake and my camp for the night.

(Update: This morning I thought to acknowledge another reason why I like this sort of place so much. While there are so many iconic and well-known views of the Sierra, this is an example of the sort of intimate landscape that any individual back-country traveler can find. This is just “some little spot along a creek with no trail,” and I’d guess that only a handful of people come past this spot every year and not all of them stop to look at this little scene – but it is no less spectacular on that account.)

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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