Tag Archives: fall

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

Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray

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Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray
Forms of bare trees silhouetted against the sunlit spray of a Yosemite waterfall.

Trees, Sunlight, Waterfall Spray. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bare trees silhouetted against the sunlit spray of a Yosemite waterfall.

For decades I have had an informal tradition of stopping at a waterfall during my first spring visit to Yosemite Valley, and getting as close — and as wet! — as possible as my way of saying goodbye to the cold winter season and hello to the upcoming warmer times of the year. Most often the location has been Bridal Veil Fall, one of the most accessible in The Valley and one that reliably produces clothing-soaking mist early in the season. Although I have photographed this “event,” the point of the visit has rarely been photographic — it is more about a reconnection with a favorite time of year in the Sierra and a personal celebration of the wild flow of melting snow at this time of the year.

But, of course, I can’t entirely avoid photographing the thing. That said, photographing the drenching torrent up close presents some problems. Cameras don’t like mist-filled air, especially when the mist is sometimes thick enough to act more like rain. Even if your camera is protected against water, you lens is going to get soaked quickly, and water-covered lenses and most landscape photography don’t mix. So my approach is to work quickly with a handheld camera. I know these lovely trees from previous visits, and I was hoping I could get close enough to photograph them against the clouds of spray coming from the waterfall, silhouetted against the brilliant backlit mist. I pre-selected a lens, stuck the camera in a waterproof bag, and headed up the short trail, quickly getting to the location of these trees. Standing behind a larger tree, I unzipped the bag and took out the camera. I stepped out of the shelter of the tree, pointed the camera up towards these slender trees, composed the image I had in mind, and made perhaps a half-dozen exposures before things got to wet and I had to retreat.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Snow Begins

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Snow Begins
Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Snow Begins. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Snow begins to fall on trees alongside a Yosemite Valley meadow

Yes, another photograph of Yosemite Valley on a winter day. I made this photograph on an afternoon when snow flurries were beginning to affect the Valley. It was an extremely cold day, and I was resuming my photography after a mid-day break. The light was “challenging” as the clouds moved in, muting colors, lowering the light levels, and producing a rather gray affect. But that is what it looks like when snow is coming!

If I recall correctly, I passed by this well-known meadow on my way to another objective, and paused long enough to walk about a bit and make a few photographs before moving on. At this point it was only snowing lightly. It is perhaps hard to see the falling snow in the meadow, at least in the small online version of the photograph, and it was still possible to see through the flurries to the surrounding cliffs.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Granite, Snow, And Clouds

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Granite, Snow, And Clouds
Clouds sweep across granite faces as winter snow falls above Yosemite Valley

Granite, Snow, And Clouds. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds sweep across granite faces as winter snow falls above Yosemite Valley

This morning brought what I consider almost perfect Yosemite Valley weather — cold, windy, light snow falling, and misty clouds floating among the cliffs, peaks, and turrets surrounding the Valley. I found a spot with a suitable view of several impressive sections of Valley wall, put a long lens on the camera, and began to photograph as the storm evolved.

This sort of photography is anything but static. With clouds in motion and snow falling, the scene was constantly changing. One moment everything would go gray and the rocky faces were almost completely obscured. Then a section of thinner clouds would arrive, the granite and trees would begin to emerge, and sometimes the sun would briefly light sections of the scene. And as I focused on one area, something interesting would begin to occur in another spot. I had eyed the foreground sloping granite for some time, waiting for it to clear and for the ridge extending beyond it to become somewhat visible as the clouds drifted and parted.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Forest, Meadow, New Snow

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Granite, Snow, And Clouds
Overnight snow coats forest trees, Yosemite National Park

Forest, Meadow, New Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds sweep across granite faces as winter snow falls above Yosemite Valley

This morning followed a light overnight snowfall in Yosemite Valley, and the temperature was cold enough that the snow did not melt. The thin coating of snow remained on the trees, even as the first sun arrived, peaking over the top of the cliffs along the south side of the Valley.

In the foreground are trees growing on the Valley floor, near the edge of a large, open meadow, including both conifers and deciduous trees. The further up the Valley walls we look the more snow remains, and backlit trees with snowy branches wind their way upwards toward granite cliffs. Further in the distance those cliffs appear, snow dusted and blue in the cold shadow light.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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