Tag Archives: evening

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

Exfoliation

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Exfoliation
Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

Exfoliation. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Granite slabs littered with exfoliated boulders, Yosemite Naitonal Park.

As is our pattern in the backcountry, by late afternoon each of photographers in our group had “headed out” find subjects to photograph in late-day light. There was a lot to work with in the area surrounding the lake where we were camped; low ridges, the shoreline of the lake, forest, meadow with boulders, granite slabs, and even actual mountains if you walked far enough.

I decided to wander to the other side of our lake, where a granite dome rise above the water… and dropped of precipitously into a gigantic canyon on the other side. I decided that I would approach from one side, cross the summit close to sunset, and then return to camp by descending a ridge on the other side. The angle of the light was quite low as I crossed granite slabs to a low spot between the dome and another low hill, and the slabs were covered with boulders that appeared to be remnants of the process of exfoliation.

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

Dissipating Sierra Storm, Evening

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Dissipating Sierra Storm, Evening
Storm clouds dissipate in evening light, northern Yosemite backcountry.

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

Storm clouds dissipate in evening light, northern Yosemite backcountry.

This photograph is not just a picture — it evokes a whole series of pleasant associations going back decades. The location is a backcountry spot in northern Yosemite National Park that I visited a decade ago with a group of friends and photographers. I had walked into the backcountry to meet them on my own for a few years, and I did the same thing this time… but something changed. I was self-contained, carrying everything on my back, as I had done for decades, but they were supported by pack train. After our first night at a midway point on the trek to this spot, one of the group members said, “You know, Dan, we could see if there is room for your pack on one of the mules.” Stubborn as a mule myself, I declined. My friend persisted, “Maybe we could put part of your load on a mule.” I surrendered, turning over my canister of food. (After this I participated fully in these trips — yes, relying on mules, too.)

We ended up camped near the lake seen in this photograph. The group had developed loose rituals — up very early to photograph, usually alone, then back to camp for midday tasks and camaraderie. Late in the day we dispersed again into the surrounding terrain to photograph until dark. On this afternoon I did something that I always love in the Sierra — I headed off on my own to investigate some off-trail terrain. Eventually I found my way up some granite slabs and ledges to top out at the base of a high valley filled with talus. I made a few photographs and then started to work my way back down, pausing at this spot just before sunset and setting up to photograph dissipating clouds beyond distant peaks before descending in the gathering darkness to rejoin my friends in camp.

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: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Goose Bedlam

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Goose Bedlam
A large flock of geese in twilight flight above California’s Central Valley.

Goose Bedlam. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large flock of geese in twilight flight above California’s Central Valley.

Today I’m back from what will likely be my last opportunity of the season to photograph seasonal migratory geese here in California. I know that I photographed them on about this date last year… and that about a week later (on March 13, 2020) when I went to look for them they had left. I remember that date well, as it was the last such trip I took for a long time, as California was in the process of entering a fairly hard lockdown as the trajectory of the pandemic became clearer. In any case, these geese should be heading back to the arctic for the warm month any day now.

Near the end of their California visit they seem to become increasingly active, and that was the case this week. Although they did spend time on the ground feeding or settled on ponds, they were frequently in the air. As darkness approached a huge group of them — snow, Ross’s, white-fronted, and probably other geese — was in constant motion in an area of recently cleared fields. I like to photograph them at slower shutter speeds in the twilight since it seems to me that the motion blurring effect may suggest this wild activity better than pure stop-motion.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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.