Tag Archives: glow

Sunset Clouds, Mono Craters

Image June 16, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Clouds and Sun

Image January 25, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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: Macro, Photographs: Nature

Translucent Bloom

Image June 16, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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.)

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Morning Light, Alluvial Fans

Image February 10, 2023 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Morning light and haze over vast alluvial fan landscape, Death Valley National Park.

This is probably not the most traditionally “scenic” subject in Death Valley, and it is possible that it may not speak to everyone, especially those unfamiliar with the immense scale of the place and its potential for deep silence and stillness. But this is a spot that I keep going back to on mornings like this, when the first sunlight breaks over ridges to the east and shines through glowing haze is a slants cross these gigantic alluvial fans.

When you stop to consider the nature of the landscape in this park, you’ll eventually have a moment when it hits you just how much of the place consists of material that has been eroded and washed down from high places. The eroded material forms these gigantic washes, which can be miles long and wide.