Tag Archives: face

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

Patterns In Granite

March 29, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Patterns in a section of Yosemite Valley granite

Of all the things that characterize and define Yosemite, rock may be the most important. The Valley itself is lined with huge granite* forms in the shapes of domes and cliffs and more, carved by water, glaciers, and slow erosion. Wandering about the Valley one eventually becomes aware that the granite “moves,” and that giant chunks have fallen from the surrounding heights and sometimes managed to travel a good distance into the valley — a sobering thought. This rock continues into the high country, where some of the same features are found, along with others — the glacial “erratics” left behind as ice retreated, places were rivers flow across smooth rock, meadows dotted with boulders.

The character of granite on the large scale is hard to miss, but its character close up is also fascinating. Many years ago, for a few years, I was a bit of a rock climber. As a climber one gets “up close and intimate” with rock, learning (and remembering the tactile qualities) of the rock — smooth, straight cracks, rough, covered by lichen, disintegrating, marked by water, and more. That may explain why this little spot caught my attention. Quite a few stories are in this rock. It lies at the base of some very large cliffs, suggesting its source. It is covered by lichen, part of the reason for the color variations. Stained streaks produce vertical lines, and one odd section, which must be harder than the rest, angles up from left to right.

A geologist friend has pointed out to me in the past that “granite” is not a technically correct blanket description for the rock of Yosemite. I’m using the term in the casual and familiar sense. And for those who get this far, did you notice a compositional link to the recent redwing blackbird photograph? :-)

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

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

Cliff in Sun, Trees In Shadow

March 22, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The edge of a granite face caught in morning sun, with snow-covered trees in shadow

The little bit of sunlit granite cliff on the right side of this photograph has long intrigued me. When the light hits it a highlight is added to a scene that is often otherwise almost completely in shadow. The light only happens for a short period, since the sun has to rise above the thousands-of-feet-high cliff above and then find its way down at just the right angle. Basically, it is only going to happen in the morning at this time of year, and for a short time at that. On this day I photographed it just after new snow had fallen the night before, coating trees and granite with a thin layer of snow.

The color of this scene is perhaps also worth mentioning. I decided to “go with the blue” on this image. Deeply shaded areas that are illuminated by open sky are often far bluer than we might think, something that photographers soon learn to recognize. When we look at such a scene with our eyes and our brains visual processing system, our brain tells us that, for example, the snow in this scene is white. But objectively speaking it is very much NOT white — it is the blue of the sky. In many cases photographers — including me — will adjust the color of the blue shadows in post to make them a bit closer to how we recall the scene, but another option is to leave it just as blue as it actually is… which is what I’ve done here.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fractured Granite

November 27, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A fractured granite cliff in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

I made this photograph on a morning when I was in the eastern Sierra to photograph autumn subject, particularly the annual color change of the aspen trees. Being in a place where I have photographed many times, I quickly dispensed with the familiar (and even iconic) subjects in the area and then, as I like to do, simply wandered slowly with my eyes open, looking for little elements of the larger landscape that caught my eye. Although I have walked past this granite quite a few times, it may be the first time I have photographed it.

Granite (along with, as geologist friends might remind me, rocks informally referred to as granite) is ubiquitous in the Sierra, and is one of the most characteristic features of the Sierra Nevada experience. Not only is there a lot of it, but it has been laid bare by (mostly) glacial action, and it appears in its original locations and in places where the rocks have been moved by water and ice. As a person who has hiked here for decades and who spent a few years as a rock climber, I developed an intimate familiarity with this rock. It can be smooth or rough, uniform in color and texture or interspersed with veins and crystals. It can be freezing cold in winter or benignly warm on a summer day. It may be nearly white, gray, or incorporate a host of color variations. It seems to be solid and unchanging, but there is evidence everywhere that it has been moved and broken and shaped.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees

November 22, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Bare aspen tree trunks and branches against a backdrop of a Sierra Nevada rock face

There are all kinds of ways to photograph aspens, and they can be photographed during virtually any season: winter trees with snow, spring trees with new leaves, summer trees surrounded by wildflowers and grasses, autumn colors, and this wonderful time when the bare trees stand out against the rest of the surrounding terrain. At this latter stage they can be photogenic on their own or they can be set off against backdrops of other trees, rocks, or the fallen leaves littering the ground.

These specific trees have gotten my attention in the past. They grow against a fractured granite backdrop, and they are in a location where I might go to photograph other fall subjects. So when I go to photograph those subjects, I often end up walking past this spot and pausing. While nearby trees still had a lot of colorful leaves, these smaller trees had already dropped almost all of theirs.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: face

Patterns In Granite

Cliff in Sun, Trees In Shadow

Fractured Granite

Cliff Face and Bare Aspen Trees

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.