Tag Archives: fog

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Upper Yosemite Falls in Mist

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Upper Yosemite Fall in Mist
The mist of an autumn rainstorm shrouds upper Yosemite Falls.

Upper Yosemite Falls in Mist. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The mist of an autumn rainstorm shrouds upper Yosemite Falls.

This photograph was made on a very rainy early November morning, when the previously-dormant Yosemite Falls had sprung dramatically back to life following two days of rain.

This was a very difficult photo to take and it has been a difficult photo to work with in post-processing. I shot it with a very long lens (400mm on full-frame) as mist and rain swirled around the top of the upper falls, most of the time almost completely obscuring the waterfall. Occasionally the clouds and rain would thin a bit and I would make a few shots. The complexity of the post processing has several parts. First, the dynamic range of the photograph is very small. (Usually we struggle with the opposite problem – a dynamic range that is too big!) For this reason I had to make some decisions about whether and how much to expand this range in post, and also about just where the “normal” brightness should be. Second, the color saturation is so weak that the photograph almost appears to be a black and white image, but it is indeed a color photograph… with extremely muted colors.

I’m looking forward to working on making a print of this one. I’m certain that it will be a challenge, but I think that it may work well as a print.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | 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

Fall Foliage, Ahwahnee Meadow

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Fall Foliage, Ahwahnee Meadow

Fall Foliage, Ahwahnee Meadow. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall foliage in Ahwahnee Meadow on a foggy and rainy November day – Yosemite Valley, California.

If you visit the Valley very often you probably know of this small grove of trees set in the Ahwahnee Meadow not too far from Yosemite Village and the Ahwahnee, with (depending upon where you stand) background views of Glacier Point, Half Dome, or Yosemite Falls. I have certain traditions regarding where I photograph in the Valley, and one is to photograph this grove, especially when the new spring growth appears or when the colors change in the fall. I’ve photographed it close up (it is especially nice when shallow winter fog settles into this meadow above a few inches of snow) and from further back as in this photograph made from the edge of the meadow along the road/trail to the Ahwahnee. It was raining lightly when I shot this, and low fog was passing through and behind the trees along the base of the Glacier Point Apron beyond the forest.

keywords: fall, autumn, color, leaves, yellow, gold, greedn meadow, grass, brown, forest, grove, pines, glacier point, apron, cliff, rock, mountain, yosemite, valley, national park, season, fog, mist, clouds, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

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Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall color along the banks of the Merced River at the El Capitan Bridge, Yosemite Valley.

This is a second photograph that I made of this scene last weekend. (I posted the other one here a few days ago.) The first major winter storm of the season was just coming in, and it had already rained enough to cause the Merced River to begin to rise – which explains the debris floating on the surface in this photo.

I decided to work this scene with prime lenses rather than my zooms, so I made the previous photograph using the somewhat wider view of my 35mm lens and made this one using a 50mm prime. Frankly, I’m still going back and forth on which I like best. I like the way that this tighter crop fills the frame with the fall colors, but I like the composition of the wider view, too.

keywords: fall, autumn, color, foliage, leaves, gold, yellow, green, tree, oak, leaves, plants, nature, water, merced, river, bend, el capitan, meadow, bridge, mountain, cliff, face, reflection, yosemite, valley, national park, seaon, fog, cloud, california, usa, log, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

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Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn

Yosemite Falls and Mist, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yosemite Falls in mist following an autumn rain storm.

In almost every way last weekend was a special one for photographers in Yosemite Valley. Not only were the fall colors intensified by the rain, but the good sized storm restarted creeks, rivers, and waterfalls that in many cases had gone more or less dormant for the season. When I arrived on Saturday morning there was just a trickle of water coming over Yosemite Falls. But that afternoon the flow was approaching typical early summer levels, and many small seasonal falls had come to life all over the valley – water was running everywhere.

When I stopped in this meadow to admire Yosemite Falls I first only thought of photographing the interesting nearly leafless trees near the Merced River – partly because I usually don’t bother to photograph the view of the falls from this spot and partly because the upper fall was obscured by thick fog anyway. But soon it became apparent that the fog was in motion and the sun was occasionally getting through and striking the cliff faces around and below the fall. I started to think something special might happen and in the end I spend a good hour in this spot waiting for the right combination of light and fog.

keywords: yosemite, falls, valley, national park, waterfall, mist, fog, cloud, sky, ridge, cliff, mountain, forest, grove, tree, meadow, grass, autumn, season, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, stock, trunk, branch, sierra, nevada