Tag Archives: glow

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

Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds

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Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds
“Mt. Dana, Sunset Clouds” — Clouds glow in the final sunset light above Mt. Dana.

There is a special autumn feeling in the Sierra high country that I love. It is hard to describe, and it may be the sum of a variety of seasonal features. Summer is a time of wild abundance as the plants (and the mosquitos!) take advantage of the short growing season. Within a couple of months it comes to an end and things go dormant in preparation for the coming winter. There are fewer human visitors, too — though sadly it isn’t quite as deserted as it used to be. The intense light of summer is gone, replaced by softer, golden, and often hazy light.

This was one of those evenings. I was traveling through the Yosemite high country between Tioga Pass and Tuolumne Meadows, and the place was nearly deserted. Clouds low enough to obscure peaks were drifting about, and the last sunlight turned the west edge of the cloud bank bright red/orange. I stopped here, made a few photographs, and watched as the color faded from the sky.

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: Mono Lake Basin

Sunset Clouds, Mono Craters

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Sunset Clouds, Mono Craters
“Sunset Clouds, Mono Craters” — The last sunset light on clouds above Mono Craters.

This ridge is comprised of the Mono Craters, a string of volcanic cones running roughly south from Mono Lake east of the Sierra Nevada. We don’t typically think of the Sierra as a volcanic range, but there are quite a few examples of volcanism to be seen once you get to know the area. If you head over the Sierra to Lee Vining and then turn south you will see a lot of evidence of this. You begin with the islands in Mono Lake, then. see another cinder cone just south of the lake. The Mono Craters rise just south of highway 120 as it heads out into the lonely basin and range country. Continuing south you pass several impressive cones and lava flows on your way to Mammoth Lakes, where Mammoth Peak rises — yes, another volcanic feature. From there, if you hike south you can see the string continue.

I was here at the end of September on a sort of “getting reacquainted with the Sierra” trip after returning from ten weeks of overseas travel. That travel was wonderful, but it was great to be back ”home” in California’s mountains. On this evening I was photographing an absolutely wild sunset over Mono Lake, and as a sort of side-show I saw this lovely light over the craters as the last light illuminated clouds and remnants of falling rain.

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

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Clouds and Sun

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Pacific Clouds and Sun
“Pacific Clouds and Sun” — The sun breaks through storm clouds above the California Pacific coast.

The most remarkable thing about ocean coasts might be the wildly varied effects of light and color. In some conditions there may be intense blue and green colors or the warm tones of early morning and evening. When light is affected by storms and fog, the colors may drain from the scene. This photograph is an example of the latter situation — believe it or not, this is a color photograph.

Like my other recent seascapes, I made this one during the end-of-year period of historically high tides and giant surf along the California coast. While this photograph doesn’t focus on gigantic, impressive waves breaking near the shore, if you look closely you can see that a large swell is distorting the undulating surface of the water.

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

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Photographs: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Translucent Bloom

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Translucent Bloom
Light glows through the petals of a spring blossom.

Translucent Bloom. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Light glows through the petals of a spring blossom.

The scale of my photograph subjects usually ranges between the whole landscape and something a bit smaller than that. But Patty, the other photographer in the household, has made a specialty of photographing vey small things, often flowers, and often so close that we see details rather than the whole thing. This was bound to rub off on me, and I realized that I have a series of such photographs on my desktop ready to post.

I made this photograph on one of our periodic forays to a large garden on the San Francisco Peninsula. At first I wasn’t thrilled with the light — we were expecting some lingering fog and soft light, but instead the sun was out. But I found that if I got in really close to some of these flowers that were in just the right light… it was possible to find that “less than all of it” perspective on them.

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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