Tag Archives: flow

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

Whitewater, Tenaya Creek

February 10, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Turbulent whitewater flows through an area of steep granite along Tenaya Creek, Yosemite National Park.

You can, of course, find a place to shoot subjects like this one all over the Sierra and no doubt in many other places as well. This photograph was made during a period of relatively high water early in the season and in a spot where the water flowed over some rocks in shade. Sunlight on the other side of the stream reflected into the water and revealed highlights, especially the flying spray that I allowed to blur with a somewhat slow shutter speed.

The moving water in Sierra streams and rivers seems to be an almost irresistible subject for many photographers, and I confess that I count myself among them. In some ways it is almost too easy to make these photographs, and one basic requirement is a willingness to make quite a few exposures. The instantaneous motion of the water and the reflections of light simply cannot be controlled or predicted, so one almost has to make many, many exposures. Of course, there is a bit more to it than pointing the camera at water and then repeatedly pressing the shutter release. It is important to find some sort of compositional interest first – it could be where water flows around or over a rock, a place where the light catches the water, or possibly just the twisting forms of turbulent water. Light is extra important in these photographs I think – most often the colors come from a combination of the blue-green shades of water full of foam and from reflected light from things that are out of the frame. (In this photograph, the light mostly comes from sunlight reflected off of granite on the far side of the stream.) Shutter speed is an important consideration, as a short exposure will stop or nearly stop the water and freeze the motion, a somewhat longer exposure can hold some detail but still allow blur along the direction of the flow, and very long exposures can create a misty and diffuse effect.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Confluence of Cascade and Tamarack Creeks

January 19, 2011 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Long exposure in evening light of the boulder-strewn confluence of Cascade and Tamarack Creeks, Yosemite National Park.

Right below the bridge along the Crane Flat Road (often described as highway 120) route into Yosemite Valley, two wildly cascading creeks join together before their final descent to the bottom of the canyon where they join with the Merced River. Cascade Creek is probably the better known of the two since some spectacular sections of its descent are clearly visible right above the roadway. Tamarack Creek is easier to miss since you have to look carefully into the trees if you try to spot it from your car, or else get out of the car and look more closely. In the photograph, Cascade Creek flows away from the bottom of the frame, and Tamarack joins from the right in the upper portion of the frame.

I’ve always paid more attention to the section of Cascade Creek that is above the bridge. However, after recently having several opportunities to carefully (and admiringly) view Charlie Cramer’s stunning print of his “Cascade Creek, Spring, Yosemite”, I decided that I really needed to look off the other side of this bridge! (Charlie, I found your rocks. First, I’m even more impressed now that I realize how obscure and out of the way the subject of your photograph is. Second, how the heck did you position the camera over the side of the bridge to make that photograph!?) With that in mind, I visited this spot several times on this weekend trip to Yosemite and tried photographing it in different types of light.

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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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Fog-Shrouded Curving Ridges, Yosemite Valley

December 14, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees and rocks emerge from fog flowing over curving ridges on the rim of Yosemite Valley during an autumn storm.

This may be the final photograph from the “fog shrouded cliffs” series that came from my late October visit to Yosemite Valley during a fall storm. Since I’ve described this series in some detail previously, I’ll try to keep this comment short. I initially had my eye on the pinnacle at the lower left, and it became a more prominent subject in other photographs in this series. But as I photographed it I was attracted to the angles formed by the foreground ridge rising from left to right and the upper ridge beyond rising the opposite direction. (I think it is the same ridge, with the two sections joined directly above the pinnacle.) The fog/clouds were in constant motion, at one moment almost completely obscuring the scene and a moment later revealing portions of the landscape. For a brief instant the pinnacle stood clear of the clouds and bot sections of the upper ridge were visible.

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.

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

Mist and Curving Ridge, Yosemite Valley

November 27, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Mist from an autumn storm flows across the crest of a curving ridge high on the walls of Yosemite Valley.

The mist from this late-October storm is flowing over the edge of a curving ridge high above the floor of Yosemite Valley, leaving just a hint of the higher, curving ridge above this pinnacle through the clouds at upper left. This photograph, like one I posted very recently, was made as I alternated my attention between the image of Upper Yosemite Fall alternately transitioning between filtered sun and obscuring clouds and small details of the closer Valley walls as seen in this image. From moment to moment there were many interesting combinations of light, cloud, trees, and rock… but they came and went quickly and almost without warning.

I usually post photographs here before printing them, and not all of the posted photographs necessarily get printed. This one is an exception in that I made the first print of it yesterday. I’m also happy to say that some very subtle details that are barely or not visible in this web jpg reproduction are there in the print, including some faint outlines of trees in the upper left portion of the frame and some details of the rocky face at lower right.

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.

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