Tag Archives: forest

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

Meadow and Young Trees, Morning

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Meadow and Young Trees, Morning
“Meadow and Young Trees, Morning” — A meadow interspersed with young trees ascends toward forest and ridges in morning light.

I have passed this spot on Tioga Pass Road for years and thought about making a photograph. I could only catch a brief glimpse while driving by since it is along a section of the roadway with no obvious pull-out. In mid-September it caught my eye again, especially with I saw haze and light beams in the trees. So I turned around, went back, and finally located a place to pull over a short walk away.

This part of the Yosemite High Sierra is full of little meadows like this one, stretching upwards along streams that descend from higher peaks. This one is full of young trees that are gradually filling in the meadow, and I suppose someday the meadow will be gone and the stream will flow through the forest.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Meadow and Mountains

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Meadow and Mountains
“Meadow and Mountains” — Morning haze and wildfire smoke on Mounts Dana and Gibbs above a late-summer Yosemite high country meadow.

In some places the Sierra Nevada crest can present the classic, rugged alpine scene — high, rocky peaks and ridges that almost appear to be inaccessible. But in other places the land rises a bit more gently, and you can look across open meadows and forests towards peaks that look as if you could just walk to their summits. (In fact, you could walk to the summits in this photograph, but you’d be exhausted, as the highest is over 13,000′ tall.

The water in the foreground belongs to the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River. Early in the season the meadow here can be lushly green — and quite wet — but by the end of summer, like almost all Sierra meadows, it turns golden. On this day the atmosphere was complex — high clouds would lead to thunderstorms later on, and drifting wildfire smoke obscured distant subjects.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Shoreline, Pond, and Mountains

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“Shoreline, Pond, and Mountains” — Early evening sun lingers on the shoreline of a small pond beneath the Sierra Nevada crest.

This pond was a frequent subject when I camped nearby on a mid-July backpacking trip into the Sierra Nevada. We camped just below the crest of the range east of Yosemite National Park. This valley holds numerous lakes, and we camped at one of the larger ones. The pond shown in the photo was nearby — less than a one minute walk from my campsite.

I photographed this subject both early and late in the day, the times when the light is more agreeable. This photo comes from early on my evening photography outing, when the shadows were just beginning to lengthen and stretch across the landscape.

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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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lakes Meadows, and Trees

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Lakes Meadows, and Trees
“Lakes Meadows, and Trees” — Trees and shorelines along a series of Sierra Nevada lakes.

This is another photograph from my mid-July backpack trip into the Eastern Sierra Nevada, right below the crest of the range just outside Yosemite National Park. We spent three nights and four days in the area, and because it was an easy trip with low mileage, I had plenty of time to photograph morning and evening. This is an early morning photograph of a series of lakes, captured while my trail companions were still in their tents.

The area presented some unusual terrain. Our trip began at the lower end of the lake that is barely visible in the far distance, so the first few miles of walking were nearly level. From the end of that lake we climbed no more than perhaps fifty more feet to the middle lake and our campsite. Talk about easy walking! The water in the foreground belongs to a small pond that was less than a one minute walk from my campsite.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.