Tag Archives: gem

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Late-Season Color, Lake and Mountains

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Late-Season Color, Lake and Mountains
Late-season color surrounds a subalpine lake beneath talus fields and cliff

Late-Season Color, Lake and Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-season color surrounds a subalpine lake beneath talus fields and cliff

This lake was just “up the block” from our campsite in the Sierra backcountry this past September. We were there in roughly the third week of the month, base-camped near a lake from which we could explore large areas of the surrounding territory. These surroundings were filled with an abundance of small lake, forest, and plenty of rocky scenery, from talus fields to high peaks.

On several evenings I wandered up the path from our campsite in order to get to nearby lakes that lay at a somewhat higher elevation. These lakes were still surrounded by trees, albeit increasingly small trees and often with space between them. This lake had a lovely growth of tall grasses along its inlet stream, and here I have photographed it against the background of a huge cliff that was nearby.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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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

Subalpine Lake Shore And Forest

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Subalpine Lake Shore And Forest
Subalpine forest ascends on granite benches above a small lake

Subalpine Lake Shore And Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Subalpine forest ascends on granite benches above a small lake

This scene is located in one of the lovely intimate landscape areas of the valley we visited in mid-September this year. While spectacular alpine ridges and peaks and long vistas seem like primary features of the Sierra Nevada, the more time you spend there the more you’ll come to think of scenes like this one as defining the nature of the place. It is a land of bare granite slabs and benches, on which small trees managed to find sustenance, broken up by lakes and tarns and meadows. While those monumental peaks are often visible above, these scenes are more characteristic and perhaps affecting.

The light is special, too. In this terrain of open forests, widely spaced trees, rocky formations, lakes and meadows the light manages to find its way into nearly every corner of the landscape. Unlike denser forests, where the ground can seem to be in perpetual shade, here the light almost always breaks through. Even in areas where the light is blocked by peaks, other peaks often reflect soft light to illuminate the shadows. And everywhere, especially early and late in the day, back-light can make the trees and grasses glow.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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

Lakeshore, Trees, Benches

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Lakeshore, Trees, Benches
A series of tree-covered rocky benches rises from the shore of a small subalpine lake

Lakeshore, Trees, Benches. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A series of tree-covered rocky benches rises from the shore of a small subalpine lake

As I have mentioned previously, one of the pleasures of photographing from a backcountry base camp is that it provides opportunities to get to know the landscape more intimately. I have the opportunity to revisit locations in different or better conditions, and over the course of the visit I learn more about the landscape as I explore it.

This spot is a case in point. All of us went into this general area — perhaps a 10-15 minute walk from our camp — starting near the beginning of our stay. It is a complex landscape of small lakes, cut through by granite benches, and covered with meadows and an open forest of small trees. Our first approach was by the most obvious trail, but later in the week we began to discover alternatives. One of those alternative approaches brought us to this spot, where an elevated camera position permitted a view down toward the edge of this grass-line lake and beyond to the series of rising hills covered with trees.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
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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

Outcropping, Reflection

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Outcropping, Reflection
A shoreline granite outcropping is reflected in the still surface of a subalpine lake

Outcropping, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shoreline granite outcropping is reflected in the still surface of a subalpine lake

I have recently written about and shared a few images from this summer’s 9-day Sierra backcountry photographic adventure. The short story is that a group of us, as we do every year, headed into a backcountry location, set up a base camp, and photographed the surroundings for about a week. The “founders” of the group have been doing this for close to two decades — I gradually became part of the group about a decade ago or so.

One of the many advantages of working this way — setting up a base camp and working outwards from it — is that we can more thoroughly explore and photograph the surrounding area. When backpacking I would mostly pass through locations, rarely staying for more than a night. This gave me an evening and a morning, but with a base camp I can can “work” an area for a full week, often returning to a location to find better conditions. This year our camp was within a short walk of many small, intimate lakes. The daily question was often, “Which lake this time?” I visited the lake in this photograph several times, and each time learned more about it. On this occasion, in the evening, the water was still and reflected the form of the granite outcropping on the other side of the lake.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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