Tag Archives: fog

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees and Fog, After the Storm

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Trees and Fog, After the Storm
Drifting fog obscures trees in rocky alpine terrain as a Sierra summer storm clears.

Trees and Fog, After the Storm. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Drifting fog obscures trees in rocky alpine terrain as a Sierra summer storm clears.

Later this evening the sky would explode into spectacular color as our storm began to break up and clear. But earlier, when I made this photograph, there were still plenty of clouds around, and much of the surrounding landscape was obscured as they drifted across peaks and ridges, and passed between trees in the forest. I went to a high place with a 360-degree view, set up my camera, and enjoyed the show.

I spent a lot of time focusing on this section of the panorama, a spot where sparse trees were growing on rocky ledges, apparently gaining just enough purchase to put down roots in cracks in the granite. At times the fog would drift back and forth, momentarily revealing details of the trees and even the higher ridges beyond. But when I made this photograph the scene was nearly obscured, and even the frontmost trees were half-hidden by the drifting clouds.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Post-Storm Clouds

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Post-Storm Clouds
“Post-Storm Clouds” — A great variety of clouds and fog as a summer storm clears over the Eastern Sierra.

No, I am still not quite finished with this spectacular evening in the Sierra backcountry. In early August our group spent a week base-camped in the wilderness, heading out each day (starting before sunrise and concluding after dark) to photograph our spectacular surroundings. We experienced challenging weather during the first 24 hours, but on the evening of the second day the storm dissipated, and just at sunset things opened up and alpenglow briefly lit up the sky.

There was no guarantee of this happening — which is often the case when chasing such subjects. Not long before this things were pretty gray, and fog drifted just overhead, obscuring trees and peaks, al though we could see that the sky was lightening up a bit. Then a bit of pink showed up on the higher clouds, gradually working its way down though the various layers left by the departing storm. I had been photographing the fog, but I quickly turned my attention to this developing scene! As the sky became more and more colorful, a bank of lighter fog enveloped the top of a ridge on the other side of the valley beyond the lake. A few minutes after this spectacular finale… the show was over.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Drifting Fog

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Trees, Drifting Fog
Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

Trees, Drifting Fog. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fog from a clearing storm drifts among backcountry Sierra Nevada trees growing on rocky ledges.

This evening marked the end of a 24 hour bout of pretty challenging backcountry weather during our August photography trip in the Eastern Sierra. We had no more set up our tents at our base camp when the skies unleashed hours of the heaviest rain I have ever experience in the Sierra backcountry. Later that evening it decreased enough that we could come out of our tents, recover some gear that had been left out in the deluge, fix dinner, and crawl back into our tents. We thought it was over, but very early in the morning it started again, though this time not nearly as heavy, and continued on into the next day. Finally, on the second evening, the weather started to break.

On this second evening we all headed out to find suitable photographic subjects. The clouds were slowly thinning, and the surrounding peaks starting to show through. Eventually we got a bit of last-minute sunset light that created utterly beautiful cloudscapes and colorful mountains. But first, I set up on top of a rocky outcropping and watched fog drift across this rocky slope, making the trees drift in and out of sight as the clouds washed back and forth.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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

The Storm Ends

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The Storm Ends — remnants of summer storm in the Ritter Range.
“The Storm Ends” — Sunset light on clouds as a summer monsoon storm clears above Sierra Nevada peaks.

Yes, I’m still working my way through the photographs from our August backcountry photography expedition in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The process is often an extended one for me. Typically there are a few images that jump out at me immediately. Then I begin to work on photographs that I was less sure about initially but which grow on me as I consider them. Finally there are photographs like this one that, from the start, seemed interesting but which I knew would take additional effort to bring to a presentable state. In this case, the light was quite challenging and this version of the photograph required considerable post-processing to get it to where I feel that it reflects what I saw and felt that evening.

We had walked in to our basecamp location (with packers bringing much of our gear) the previous day. Almost immediately after our arrival a tremendous monsoonal summer storm unloaded on us, pinning us down in our tents for hours. The challenging weather continued, albeit in less dramatic form, over the next 24 hours. On the second evening the clouds began to break a bit and it seemed like the sky might be getting lighter beyond the ridge to our west. We all headed out to photograph the transition, and we were not disappointed! As the clearing continued, fog drifted among the peaks and the last of the day’s sun illuminated clouds with sunset 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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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