Tag Archives: granite

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

Trees, Ridge, Morning Haze

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Trees, Ridge, Morning Haze
Trees stand in morning light along a glaciated granite ridge, Yosemite National Park.

Trees, Ridge, Morning Haze. Yosemite National Park, California. July 16, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees stand in morning light along a glaciated granite ridge, Yosemite National Park.

Many things characterize the unique personality of the Yosemite National Park high country, but for me the glaciated granite slabs and domes are the primary defining features. You can find them elsewhere, but here they seem to be almost everywhere you look. They include areas of pure rock, sometimes almost without fractures and with almost nothing growing. More typical though are scenes like this one, where the granite is fractured, sculpted by ice, littered with erratics, and interspersed with trees and plants that have managed to find a way to live on what seems like bare rock.

On the final morning of a recent visit to the park, before I had to break camp and head home, I went out looking for ridges like this one, topped with trees and photographed in the back light of the morning sun. Beyond the ridge and trees lies the upper end of one of the great canyons of the park, carrying a stream that eventually arrives in Yosemite Valley.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Forest, Granite Ridges

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Forest, Granite Ridges
Morning light and thin forest along granite ridges, Yosemite National Park

Forest, Granite Ridges. Yosemite National Park, California. July 16, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and thin forest along granite ridges, Yosemite National Park

This is to be a summer of travel, and a great deal of it will take me a long ways from my Sierra Nevada mountains — to other wonderful places, but not places that are wild and natural. (At least not until September, when my visits to the Sierra will recommence.) So I managed to get up into the Yosemite high country for four days in mid-July to do some photography… and breathing!

On the last morning, before returning to break camp, I headed out early to look for subjects in morning light. In fact, I had been watching this particular area and had in mind to photograph these trees, growing on an old glaciated granite ridge, against the background of more distant, haze-muted, ridges. Once I got there it was a bonus to notice the diagonal shadows of the distant trees.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Reflected Granite Bench

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Reflected Granite Bench
Soft light on a granite bench and its reflection in a wilderness lake, Kings Canyon National Park

Reflected Granite Bench. Kings Canyon National Park. September 15, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft light on a granite bench and its reflection in a wilderness lake, Kings Canyon National Park

It is hard to believe that three years have passed since this beautiful trip into the Kings Canyon National Park back-country. Four of us schlepped — or more correctly, were schlepped — into a beautiful spot off the main trails where we had the better part of a week to slowly take in beautiful alpine scenery and make photographs.

This was a base-camp photography trip, where we camped in one location and each day wandered out through the spectacular surroundings looking for photographs. Over the time we were there we conditions ranging from typical Sierra sun to rain and rainbows. I made this photograph not far from our camp, and at a time of day before the sun had risen high enough to shine direct light on us — so the water was still, the light was soft.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Forest and River, Evening

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Forest and River, Evening
Evening light comes to the Tuolumne River and surrounding forest

Forest and River, Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. July 13, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light comes to the Tuolumne River and surrounding forest

A scene like this can be deceiving, at least when it comes to assumptions about how it might be photographed. It is a peaceful and tranquil scene, and that impression supports the idea that photographing such a subject might be a slow, contemplative, and measured process: explore slowly, consider compositions, set up the camera and fine tune, wait, then photograph.

Nothing could be further from the truth. At this time of day — unless one is photographing a subject that has been specifically planned and scheduled in advance — things happen with extraordinary speed, especially when it comes to the transitions of light.  For example, the last light coming through the forest to strike the central tree lasted only moments. Knowing this, as soon as I saw it I photographed more or less instinctively, working quickly and hoping that I would have time before the light was gone— which it was only a moment later.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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