Tag Archives: granite

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

Trees and Granite Slabs

August 15, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees growing in granite slabs in the Yosemite high country stand in morning light.

Scenes like this are, for me, among those that most strongly characterize the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and specifically the portion of the range found in Yosemite National Park. There are many mountain ranges that have their own attractions, but the combination of large swaths of glacially formed and polished granite with open forests filled with light immediately shouts “Sierra Nevada” to me. I used to be attracted most to the highest alpine peaks, but more and more I like the more intimate landscapes of the parts of the Sierra in which small ponds and tarns are placed among little meadows separated by trees and bits of granite.

Scenes like this one are not, frankly, all that hard to find in Yosemite and elsewhere in the Sierra. I photographed these trees and boulders in this expanse of glaciated granite near Olmsted Point in the early morning when the light was still warm and the shadows long.

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.

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

First Light Above Tenaya Lake

August 7, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

The first morning light begins to light the granite domes and peaks above Tenaya Lake in the high-country of Yosemite National Park, California.

Although it is still more or less pre-dawn in the forest down around Tenaya Lake, morning is well underway above where the distant summit of Mount Conness is in full sun and the light is beginning to strike the granite ridges and domes above the lake. I’m always amazed at how few people who are in the area manage to get out and see the special beauty of dawn in the Sierra.

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.

keywords: tenaya, lake, first, light, dawn, morning, sun, shadow, pywiak, dome, peak, face, cliff, granite, ridge, conness, mount, forest, tree, tioga, pass, road, highway 120, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, high, stock

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

Trees and Granite Slabs, Morning

August 4, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning backlight catches a group of lodgepole pine trees growing on a series of granite slabs in the high country of Yosemite National Park.

This photograph carries with it what almost amounts to a bit of embarrassment – of the “how did I not see this” category. I have driven past this spot literally scores of times, more likely hundreds of times, and not seen the possible photograph here. In fairness, it was not always at this particular time of day, and it is in a location where it would be natural to be distracted by other visual interests.

In any case, this series of granite slabs on a low dome-like feature is fairly typical of the Sierra high county of Yosemite, and I am always attracted to the combination of the widely separated trees and the glacially-formed granite slabs. Here I was also attracted to the way the main trees were set off against the muted tones of the distant ridge which is still in shadow at the early hour of the 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.

keywords: lodgepole, tamarack, pine, granite, dome, slab, benches, morning, light, haze, back, glacial, polish, ledge, forest, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, high, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, tioga, pass, road, tenaya, lake, highway, 120, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, stock

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

Cascade, Afternoon Light

July 2, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

A back-country creek cascades across granite in afternoon light reflected from nearby rock faces, Yosemite National Park, California.

In places where a fast-moving stream drops rapidly down a glaciated granite slope (such places are found in various locations in the Yosemite high country) and the late afternoon sunlight reflects on the far side of the stream, the water can pick up the golden color of the reflected light. In this photograph I found a standing wave in the middle of turbulent section of water, and I positioned myself so that the reflected light was directly opposite my location.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.