Tag Archives: forest

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

Trees and Peninsula, Morning Light

October 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light shines on trees growing on a rocky lakeshore peninsula

On many mornings during our photography expedition into the northern Yosemite backcountry, various of us found ourselves photographing this lovely little rock peninsula, with its well-shaped trees. In fact, at times I found myself looking to photograph here… only to find that one of my friends was on the rocks and photographing these elements close up — and who could blame them. In fact, of the three exposures of the island I made within a few minutes on this morning before heading off around the lake, I think that there are other photographers in two of them! Fortunately, this one seemed to have the right combination of light and form.

The peninsula and its trees are only part of the story here. There are reflections, of course, though I composed the image to minimize them to some extent. And there is the beautiful backlight fringing the needs of the trees, an element that I find hard to resist. I’m also interested in the more distant and higher granite slopes in the far background, on which sparse and thinning trees ascend toward an unseen ridge. The same light that backlights the near trees, also backlights the trees on the granite slopes, and it also lights the atmospheric haze enough to soften the features of this mountain.

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

Subalpine Lake, Forest, and Ridges

September 30, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on a forested subalpine lake backed by alpine peaks and ridges, Yosemite National Park

When photographing or even when just looking at the world as a photographer, there are certain things that consistently get my attention — and several of them appear in this straightforward Sierra scene. I’m a sucker for layers, and there we have quite a few: the foreground forest trees, the lake with its reflecting water, the forest rising up the slopes on the opposite shore toward a granite dome, and across a deep canyon that is not directly visible there are high, alpine peaks whose features are muted in the atmospheric haze. And, yes, that haze is another thing that I often look for when making photographs.

Like many photographers, I also have an eye for juxtapositions and relationships between shapes and angles and curves and lines. If I recall correctly, the first thing that drew my attention about this scene was not the obvious lake but was instead the relationship between the granite knob just beyond the lake and the shapes of the high ridge in the distance. In fact, I made a series of photographs of those two things at different times of day and from somewhat different locations. All of that aside, the photograph also portrays a more natural sort of light than the warm and saturated light that we often photograph closer to sunrise and sunset.

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

Granite, Forest, and Lake

September 26, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

View of rugged northern Yosemite terrain of forest, lakes, and peaks, as seen from the top of a glaciated granite ridge

I went exploring on this evening, checking out the spine of this glaciated granite ridge above the lake where we were camped. It was only a short walk, first along the forested shore of the lake, then up the gradual incline of smooth granite benches and over a few bits or broken terrain to the top. This wasn’t the highest point around, but it was high enough, and it was full of trees that would catch the evening light as the day came to an end.

This is quintessential high Sierra scenery. Underfoot is glaciated granite, topped with glacial erratic rocks and boulders left behind when glaciers retreated from this area thousands of years ago. The granite has weathered, and where sand and plant material collect in pockets and cracks plants have managed to take hold, ranging from small grasses to rugged trees. Below the granite ridge the soil is thicker and forest trees grow around a subalpine lake. The terrain drops off into the canyon of the Tuolumne River on the other side of the lake and in the distance are the high, alpine peaks of the Cathedral Range.

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

Late Season Shoreline

September 25, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

As I have written elsewhere on more than one occasion, every August I begin to pay attention to hints that summer will end and that autumn is on its way. Early in the high country summer everything is in a state of rapid change — plants are in a hurry to take advantage of a short growing season and the availability of runoff water, and that water itself flows everywhere. After the explosion of early season growth and the production of flowers and cones things slow down, and at some point in August a feeling of quiet and stability begins to take hold.

The hints of change that I look for range from almost immaterial — a feeling about the sound of wind or the angle of light — to quite objective. In the latter category are changes that occur in the cycles of plant life. Corn lily plants change from green to yellow and gold and then to brown, and topple over. A few yellow leaves begin to appear on willows and even the aspens. But one of the strongest signs for me is the appearance of the red bilberry leaves in clear areas in the forest and near the edges of lakes. While the autumn bilberry leaves do not appear to be all that colorful in regular light, when backlit they turn the ground a gaudy range of colors from yellow and gold to bright red.

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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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: forest

Trees and Peninsula, Morning Light

Subalpine Lake, Forest, and Ridges

Granite, Forest, and Lake

Late Season Shoreline

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