Tag Archives: granite

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

Spring Oak, Cliff Face

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Spring Oak, Cliff Face
A spring black oak silhouetted against El Capitan, Yosemite Valley.

Spring Oak, Cliff Face. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A spring black oak silhouetted against El Capitan, Yosemite Valley.

Last weekend we were in Oakhurst, along the southern entrance to Yosemite, for the opening of a show featuring Patty’s flower photography. We were close to the park for days, but on most of them we were occupied with activities related to the show — delivering prints, setting up the exhibit, meeting with others involved in the show, attending the opening. Consequently, while the trip was related to photography… it didn’t offer many opportunities to make photographs. But on the final day of our visit we made a quick loop through portions of the park.

As part of this lightening-speed visit we made among the fastest-on-record visits to Yosemite Valley. Since our main goal was a visit to the high country along Tioga Pass Road, we made a single driving loop through the Valley, likely taking no more than an hour. We paused to photograph in just two locations, including near the base of El Capitan where we photographed the black oak trees with their new spring leaves.

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: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Green and Gray

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Subalpine plants growing on exfoliating granite, Yosemite National Park.

Green and Gray. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Subalpine plants growing on exfoliating granite, Yosemite National Park.

As California confronts increasing drought and rising temperatures, I have come to expect to see hot and dry conditions wherever I go in the state. Last week we spent some time in the “Low Sierra” foothill country, and we experienced just that — a few days of extreme heat and an earlier-than-usual transition from spring green to summer brown in the foothills. But we encountered a few surprises, too, and there were moments that reminded me of how it used to be.

The first was on a short drive up to the 6000′-7000′ range above a foothill town. Here we found plenty of green growth and quite a few wildflowers, albeit earlier than usual in their annual progression. A day later we entered Yosemite and briefly visited the high country. Following three very hot days, it was pleasantly surprising to have rain and cooler weather and to see some flowing water and new greenery, including these plants growing on exfoliating granite at about 8000′.

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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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

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light

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Lake, Ridges, Evening Light
Mountaintop trees stand above a sub-alpine lake, dome, and ridge in evening light, Yosemite National Park

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mountaintop trees stand above a sub-alpine lake, dome, and ridge in evening light, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph (and its appearance here) is a bit unusual for me, though not entirely unprecedented. It is a photograph that I have shared previously, back when I originally made it some years ago. During the last year and a half I have had plenty of opportunities to revisit older work. Mostly this has meant exploring raw file archives to locate work that was “left behind,” but which turned out to be interesting and valuable in retrospect — photographs that I felt deserved a first showing. But this case represents something different — the rethinking of a photograph that I thought I had finished.

Revisiting and revising one of my previously-shared photographs usually leads to some relatively obvious changes. But in this case I think that changes may be subtle. Theres a small change in how it is cropped, some new ideas about how to handle the foreground light, some important but small changes to the middle forest and peak just beyond the lake, and some new adjustments to the sky. In my view, it is perfectly natural and good to revisit the original interpretation of a photograph over time, a process that was perhaps more common in the film era.

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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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

Boulder-Covered Ridge and Trees, Sunset

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Boulder-Covered Ridge and Trees, Sunset
Gentle sunset light on wilderness trees on a boulder-covered ridge, Yosemite National Park.

Boulder-Covered Ridge and Trees, Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Gentle sunset light on wilderness trees on a boulder-covered ridge, Yosemite National Park.

You have already seen these trees if you have been following along here in recent weeks. To quickly recap, on this evening in the Yosemite backcountry wilderness I went for a long looping walk out beyond the lake where we were camped. I climbed a ridge beyond the opposite shoreline, and followed its spine over a rounded granite dome before descending back to ward the lake on the other side. It was late in the season, and wildfire smoke hovered far to the west between my location and the setting sun. As the sun dropped toward the horizon its light came through the smoky sky and turned the landscape an intense red-orange color.

I stopped and quickly began to photograph, knowing that these lighting conditions would be very brief. When this happens the process of photography is anything but a slow and considered process. Instead my photography instincts kick in and I tend to work fairly quickly, hoping to get something before the ephemeral light is gone. Rather than perfecting a single “perfect” composition, I may try several different approaches in quick succession, working out the details by making photographs and adjusting. A photograph I shared recently focused on this same scene but it used a wider angle. Here I began to eliminate distractions from the larger landscape by tightening the composition.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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