Tag Archives: forest

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

A Storm Approaches

Image Leave a comment
A Storm Approaches
“A Storm Approaches” — Forest trees stand in sunlight while distant ridges are darkened by the clouds of an approaching Sierra storm.

At first look this might just seem like a photograph of a row of trees. It is late in the day, and the warm light lends color to this forest at Tuolumne Meadows, and it looks like a pleasant early evening. But that bluish strip at the top of the frame tells a different story. Look closely and you can make out a peak, and the peak is backed by higher peaks that are partially obscured by the dark clouds from an incoming storm.

We hear all the time that photography is about light, and there’s truth to that claim. (I would hold that it isn’t always “just” about light, but subjects usually benefit a lot from wonderful light.) One of my favorite situations is the one shown here — something nearby in lovely, warm light, but in the background a darker and more dramatic effect.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Highland Trees and Fog

Image 2 Comments
Highland Trees and Fog
“Highland Trees and Fog” — Fog and trees along the Great Glen Way in the Scottish Highlands above Loch Ness.

Most of our hike on Scotland’s Great Glen Way passed through various bucolic landscapes: flatlands, tree-lined canals, the shores of the lochs, lowland and hillside forests. But on a couple of occasions the trail ascended above the forest and into true highlands terrain. Both times the gentle (though occasionally a bit wet) Scottish weather turned more dramatic. In this location, on the boundary between forest and open highlands, the fog drifted in and out, occasionally obscuring the view of the Glen and Loch Ness far below.

This photograph comes from the section of the walk that lies just north of Fort Augustus. Here the trail quickly climbs out of town, passing the iconic “View Catcher”, crossing a ridge, dropping into a valley, and then ascending steeply to a ridge high above Loch Ness.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin

Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest

Image Leave a comment
Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest
“Rabbitbrush, Ghost Forest” — Rabbibrush blooms near a ghost forest of burned ponderosa pines, Mono Basin.

On a late-September morning I headed out into country near Mono Lake, eventually turning off the two-late highway to follow a random gravel track that traced the edge of an extraordinarily large ponderosa pine forest. This area within sight of Mono Lake was burned in a forest fire years ago, and there are still lots of dead trees around the fringe of the forest. The stark beauty of the skeletal trees intrigued me, and I eventually found a place to stop and explore a bit.

This is an austere landscape. Even where the trees still grow there is a lot of space between them, likely due to the dry environment. In many places there is only sagebrush country, and in this spot the sandy soil supports even less vegetation. But it the middle of this — and against the backdrop of those dead trees — rabbitbrush plants were in full, colorful bloom.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Urban Wild, Manhattan

Image Leave a comment
Urban Wild, Manhattan
Tightly packed buildings and large trees, Manhattan.

Urban Wild, Manhattan. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Tightly packed buildings and large trees, Manhattan.

This photograph embodies something about Manhattan that I’ve mentioned before: For such an intensely urban place, there are a lot of examples of the natural world. It isn’t the kind of (ostensibly) “pure” nature that we see in the America West, but I sometimes think that its close juxtaposition with the city environment almost makes it more precious. We have whole forests out here in California, but in Manhattan a single tree can sometimes mean almost as much.

I saw this scene from the High Line Park as we walked its length last November. To those of use used to living with more space around and between us, the closeness of urban abodes along this park is surprising, and it almost seems voyeuristic to take a long look through the trees in someone’s tiny yard.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | 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.