Tag Archives: floor

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

Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove

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Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove

Five Sequoias, Mariposa Grove. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The massive trunks of five giant sequoia trees in soft afternoon light, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park.

Believe it or not, as much of the Sierra as I’ve visited, it has been (many) decades since I last visited the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias near Wawona in the southern area of Yosemite National Park. How many decades may shock you – if I recall correctly, it was when I was a child and my family visited. I’m pretty certain that we actually drove through the old “tunnel tree” before it fell. Since then I have visited other Sierra redwood groves but not nearly often enough. I was reminded of this last summer on a return drive from a southern Sierra pack trip took me though Sequoia National Park. I had forgotten the impact of traveling through a “normal” forest of large Sierra trees and coming upon the stupendous and massive red brown towers of these magnificent trees.

With this in the back of my mind – and the weather being more conducive to shooting in the forest than to shooting grand open landscapes – I decided to detour to Mariposa at the end of my weekend shoot in and around Yosemite. First, I found out – the somewhat hard way – that things have changed since my childhood visit. I naively drove to the road leading to the grove only to be met by the nice people in the international orange vests who informed me that there was no parking and that I’d have to drive back to Wawona, park my car, and take the free shuttle. Ah, well, probably for the best. So I joined the throngs on the shuttle system and returned to the grove. By this point my time was somewhat limited since the final return shuttle was scheduled to leave barely and hour and a half later, so I hoisted my camera pack and put my tripod on my shoulder and started up the well used trail, ultimately getting a bit past the “Grizzly Tree” before turning back. Despite the tremendous number of tourists joining me on this trail – many from places all around the globe – I was able to find some photographs in the afternoon light softened by partly cloudy skies.

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: redwood, Sequoiadendron giganteum, sierra, nevada, sequoia, tree, trunk, base, bark, grove, forest, mariposa, vertical, massive, wellingtonia, wawona, afternoon, light, diffused, floor, moss, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, foliage, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, stock, burn, fire, scar, brown, spring

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Morning at the Rhyolite School

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Morning at the Rhyolite School

Morning at the Rhyolite School. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light slants through the windows and across the floor of the old schoolhouse in the ghost town of Rhyolite Nevada.

Although it is not the most iconic structure at the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada (very close to Death Valley National Park), I’m intrigued by the ruins of the old Rhyolite School. It is one of the more intact structures – while the roof is gone, many of the walls are still standing, as is the main floor seen in the photo. I like to photograph both the exterior and interior of this structure. There is something compelling about the school with its missing roof and windows leaving the interior open to the sky, and this building makes me think about the lives of the people who lived here more than other buildings like the bank and railroad station.

I made this photograph in the early morning after photographing dawn light on the bank building and the distance Amargosa Valley and Mountains and, beyond that, Telescope Peak in Death Valley’s Panamint Range. The sun was still fairly low, providing the slanting light though the windows. If you look closely at the far windows you can make out some of the other buildings of Rhyolite.

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: school, house, building, ruins, dilapidated, weathered, window, wall, brick, stucco, concrete, light, slant, floor, old, historic, ghost, town, abandoned, sky, blue, cloud, morning, sunrise, dawn, nevada, usa, mine, interior, rhyolite, crack, gravel, travel, scenic, stock, death valley, national park

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Textures

Grass, Point Lobos

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Grass, Point Lobos

Grass, Point Lobos. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A thick carpet of spring grass at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

As I hiked through the pine forest in the southern part of the Point Lobos State Reserve on a foggy day during the last weekend of April the spring grasses and wildflowers (and poison oak!) were growing everywhere. I had stopped to photograph a scene of pines with a meadow containing yellow flowers when I spotted one large clump of very green grass that had been blown or otherwise pushed into this interesting pattern.

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: grass, plant, carpet, mat, thick, pattern, green, bud, flower, blade, leaf, foliage, vegetation, plant, nature, forest, floor, pine, grove, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, travel, scenic, monterey, carmel, peninsula, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Rattlesnake Grass, Spring

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Rattlesnake Grass, Spring

Rattlesnake Grass, Spring. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. April 26. 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Seed heads, stems, and blades of Rattlesnake grass growing in the pine forest at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

On the last weekend of April I found time to head down to Point Lobos for a half day – that ultimately stretched a bit longer that that – day of shooting. I almost didn’t go. I had the radio on as I drove toward Monterey, and as I drove through Castroville a traffic report announced that Highway 1 was closed for a marathon south of Carmel – a couple miles before Point Lobos. I almost turned around right there, but then they announced that the highway patrol would “convoy” cars through the area about once every two hours. I decided that since I was almost there anyway I might as well go on down and see what would happen. When I arrived at the intersection south of Carmel the road was completely blocked and traffic was shunted into the nearby shopping center parking lot. I saw a sign for “convoy” parking so I drove over – and it turned out that I had about a half hour before the scheduled southbound departure. I had time to grab a cup of coffee and line up.

The convoy finally worked its way onto the “course” (otherwise known as the coast highway) and then slowly started south past hundred or thousands of runners. At Point Lobos I was the only drive to leave the convoy, and when I entered the park the ranger told me I was only the second car to enter that day! If you have visited Point Lobos you may know that on a typical spring day the place will be so packed that it can be hard to find a spot to park – but I did not run into a single person in the whole park until early afternoon! (I did see one other visitor in the distance.) So what started out to look like very bad timing ended up being quite special – I had “my own private Point Lobos” for the day!

In the early afternoon I decided to walk a trail through the pines that traveled away from the shoreline. Lots of lush spring growth was still flourishing and these grass seeds caught my attention.

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: Briza maxima, rattlesnake grass, seed, leaf, stem, blade, head, plant, forest, floor, foliage, flora, point lobos, state, reserve, park, california, usa, monterey, peninsula, carmel, coast, pine, forest, grove, nature, stock