Tag Archives: granite

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Peak and Lake, Afternoon

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Peak and Lake, Afternoon
A Sierra Crest peak stands against the sky above a rocky basin and small lake

Peak and Lake, Afternoon. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra Crest peak stands against the sky above a rocky basin and small lake.

This photograph comes from almost a decade ago, when a group of friends ascended into this alpine region just east of the Sierra Nevada crest in the John Muir Wilderness, and area of rocky slabs, talus fields, lakes, and high peaks. We spent several days camped here, exploring nearby terrain. I hope to return again before long, which is perhaps why I resurrected this older photograph.

These areas just below and east of the peaks of the crest present steep and rugged country, with the highest peaks sometimes rising quickly to 7000 feet or more above the valley to the east of the range. This is an area of morning light, as the peaks and high valley generally face toward the rising sun. Late in the day, on the other hand, the sun generally drops behind the peaks well before sunset, leaving soft and shadowed light behind.

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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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

,Autumn Aspens, Cliff

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Autumn Aspens, Cliff
Autumn aspen trees cling to ledges along the face of a cliff in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

Autumn Aspens, Cliff. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen trees cling to ledges along the face of a cliff in the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The aspens in this photograph have fascinated me for years. Nearby are some relatively large, tall, and straight trees, but for the most part the trees in this scene are small, slender, and sometimes even a bit misshapen. They manage to eke out a living on what appears to be solid rock as they send their roots into narrow cracks.

These trees seem to have, at least in my experience, a fairly short period of maximum color. Or at least that is what I tell myself when looking to explain why I have somehow almost always missed their best color. But it also appears that they change colors earlier than some of the other trees in the area — I made this photograph just past the middle of September, nearly two weeks before the typical start of the more widespread fall color season in the Sierra.

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

Forest and Granite, Reflections

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Forest and Granite, Reflections
Trees of a sparse forest on rocky ground, reflected in the surface of a subalpine lake

Forest and Granite, Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees of a sparse forest on rocky ground, reflected in the surface of a subalpine lake.

Yes, I am still mining the work from our late-summer week in the John Muir Wilderness, during which five of us base-camped and photographed the heck out of the surrounding area. That pleasant late-summer days seem far away now during the cold season. (You can bet that these subjects look a lot different at the moment!) Yet as soon as I look at them it all comes right back to me… and I start thinking about the next trip to such a place.

I made this photograph late in the day after walking up to this rocky little basin, full of lakes and thin forest and surrounded by talus slopes leading up toward the Sierra Nevada crest. The specific location is a small bay extending to one side of a larger lake. The main lake was largely rock bound, with a huge cliff at its upper end. But this side bay was more gentle, surrounded by more level terrain and forest, and protected from wind. Late in the day the shadows from the nearby peaks blocked the sun, and I photographed the trees and rocks on the opposite shoreline in soft light.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Colorful Rocks, Lichen

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Colorful Rocks, Lichen
A shadowed rock face with red lichen

Colorful Rocks, Lichen. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A shadowed rock face with red lichen

This photograph looks at some details that might be easy to overlook. The rock face was located along a trail we walked on our way to our base camp for nearly a week of Sierra Nevada backcountry photography, and we ended up camping perhaps a half mile from this spot. Most of my focus was on higher terrain, but later during our visit I found the time to walk down-canyon to this spot and photograph this wall.

Several things were striking about this feature. From a personal perspective, I was surprised that I had completely ignore such an interesting source of intimate landscapes when I walked past it the first time. Now, as I revisited it, I realized that the light here was quite special, with some reflections from bright, high peaks across the valley, and additional light coming from the blue sky, with both sources filling in soft light. Here and there small plants found a foothold in cracks, and colorful lichens, ranging from intense reds and oranges through bright greens and yellows grew on the face.

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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