Tag Archives: golden

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

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

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Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek

Late Season Subalpine Meadow and Creek. Near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dry creekbed meanders through a boulder-filled golden late-season Sierra Nevada meadow at sunset near Evelyn Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is another view of the “backyard” of my solo-backpacking camp site near Evelyn Lake back in early September of this year. Dusk has fallen across the meadow and the twisting creekbed leading to the lake, but a bit of alpenglow lingers on the clouds beyond the tree-lined ridge.

This photograph is evidence of the early onset of “fall” in the high country. Although the equinox was still nearly two weeks away, the plants here had lost their summer appearance – the meadow was almost entirely brown or golden and the small creek, which would contribute to the flooding of this lakeside meadow earlier in the season had already stopped flowing.

(By starting my “fall” season in late summer in the high country I can manage to experience fall colors for at least three months every year!. I often see the first hints of the change in the highest country even earlier than the date of this photograph. Then by late September and early October the Sierra aspen color show is in full swing. By the end of the month I can find great colors at lower elevations on the west side of the range, such as in Yosemite Valley. After that the colors continue to develop through November in the coastal areas of central and northern California, and here in the SF Bay Area there are still a lot of fall colors to be seen.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Backlit Forest and Shaded Cliff

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Backlit Forest and Shaded Cliff

Backlit Forest and Shaded Cliff. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Backlit forest and shaded cliff face in Yosemite Valley, California.

This is another midday photograph from Yosemite Valley, something that seems to be a bit more possible in the autumn and winter seasons when the sun never gets too high in the sky, and it is possible to find shadowed sections of the surrounding cliffs as background to the interesting lighting on the trees. Here a few trees with autumn colors are framed by backlit and almost perfectly “Christmas tree shaped” trees and backed by a dark and shaded portion of the wall along the south side of the Valley.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Autumn Oak Trees, Cliff Face – Yosemite Valley

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Autumn Oak Trees, Cliff Face - Yosemite Valley

Autumn Oak Trees, Cliff Face – Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn oak trees and meadow with background cliff face towering above – Yosemite Valley, California.

Having posted all of the better photos from last week’s shoot at Point Lobos, I’m back to the fall photographs from Yosemite Valley once again as I complete the process of going through all of the images I brought back from my October 31 and November 1 visit. This is another in the “tree with hazy cliffs in the background” series that I seem to have spent a lot of time on during this visit. These trees were photographed during the bright midday hours, at a time when I might usually knock off from photography for awhile. However, with the right backlight on the colorful black oaks and a background of hazily distance valley walls, I continued to shoot almost straight through on this day.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Fall Foliage, Yosemite Valley

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Fall Foliage, Yosemite Valley

Fall Foliage, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. November 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall color in a meadow near Yosemite Falls – Yosemite Valley, California.

I decided to push the boundaries of “ideal shooting time” on this one – it was made less than an hour before noon in midday light that might often have me starting to take my midday break. I think two things made it possible to shoot this subject in this somewhat difficult light. First, the light coming through the leaves of these black oaks (and to some extent the cottonwoods in the distance) creates an effect that it not typical of midday shooting. Secondly, the deeply shaded cliff walls along the south side of The Valley gave me a background that was not harshly lit. (The bright grasses in the meadow were a bit tough, but I think they are under control here.)

It might surprise some to find out that this landscape image was made using a relatively long lens – a 70-200mm zoom at about 130mm. Here it helped me control the composition – making the trees seem a bit closer to one another and affecting the area of the cliff seen beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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