Tag Archives: grass

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Dawn Clouds, Reflection

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Dawn Clouds, Reflection
Dawn light on clouds, reflected in a wetland pond

Dawn Clouds, Reflection. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on clouds, reflected in a wetland pond

Sometimes the morning world surprises you. This was one of those times. I went to this place hoping that I might be ahead of an incoming weather front that was approaching from the northwest, but as the first light began to glow it was clear that I was going to be under the clouds. They covered almost the entire sky and promised to produce pretty gray conditions.

However, I did notice a very thin opening far to the east, between a mountain range and the far edge of the cloud shield. This is a condition which can, somewhat ironically, produce a brief burst of spectacular color right at sunrise (or sunset, if the break is in the west) that can be truly stunning. Basically, against a backdrop of largely dark conditions, the light will briefly shine upwards onto the clouds just as the sun reaches the horizon, sometimes producing some of the most intense light you’ll see — though the effect typically lasts only a few minutes and then the “lights go out” again quite quickly. On this morning I was next to a shallow body of water, so the show was twice as good — the colorful sky was reflected on the surface of that post.

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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

End-Of-Summer Light

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End-Of-Summer Light
Late season Sierra Nevada light in the John Muir Wilderness

End-Of-Summer Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late season Sierra Nevada light in the John Muir Wilderness

As you may have figured out if you follow my work, I often photograph very early and very late in the day, especially when I have access to soft light. On trips like the one where I made this series of photographs the day follows an unusual schedule. We are typically up very early (before dawn) for a few hours of photography, we return to camp to hang out and take care of various camp duties in the middle of the day, and in late afternoon we once again head out into the field, frequently not arriving back in camp until after dark.

But sometimes the light is beautiful outside of those limited hours. There could be special weather conditions — fog, storm clouds, haze — or a landscape that is amenable to midday photography. In the Sierra there is a period from middle September until the first real snows come that can produce some of the most beautiful daytime light I know. I think of it as golden light, and it comes on clear, cool days when the fall colors are arriving. This was one of those days, with the lakeside grasses turning yellow and the water very still, when I made this photograph near the outlet of a small, subalpine lake.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Shoreline Meadow And Forest

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Shoreline Meadow And Forest
September light on forest and meadow lining the shore of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

Shoreline Meadow And Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

September light on forest and meadow lining the shore of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake

Having set up a base camp nearby and remained there for slightly more than a week, I got to know this lake and its surroundings very well during my September 2018 visit. Because of the high ridges to the north and south, the length of time when the area was in the direct sun was shorter than is typical in such places at this time of year — we have a couple of hours at the start and end of the day when the lake fell into the shadow of these great ridges. But when that sun did come out the light was often glorious.

At this elevation, close to 11,000′, the eastern Sierra trees become quite short and their grow in an open manner that allows a lot of light to penetrate. (Hence, the “range of light!”) There was forest around this lake, but much of it was composed of these smaller, high elevation trees. Along the shoreline where I made this photograph, a meadow like area descended from the left to a narrow band of grasses lining the lake’s shore. Trees grew on the rocky rise along this side of the lake, perhaps an old moraine. When I made the photograph the light was coming through from the right at a low angle, and there was a bit of haze between my position and the high ridge in the distance.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Quiet Lake, Autumn Reflections

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Quiet Lake, Autumn Reflections
Autumn aspen trees reflected in the quiet surface of an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake

Quiet Lake, Autumn Reflections. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen trees reflected in the quiet surface of an Eastern Sierra Nevada lake

Although this photograph does not show the “classic” view of this location, there may be enough here to make it look familiar. (If you know… shhhhh.) I stopped here at an “off-hour” that wasn’t the time of day when most people looking for to reproduce that classic photograph show up. That wasn’t my intention, and I now typically only go to this place (and others like it) when I suspect that something truly unusual might happen for the most part.

I arrived and wandered over to the often-crowded spot… to find that I was almost alone here. What an unusual pleasure! The water was extremely still for this time of day, and cloud-filtered light was coming from behind and to the left of the bright grove of aspen trees. They reflected beautifully in the lake, but I decided to interrupt that reflection and its symmetry by finding a way to include the grasses growing along the near shore of the lake, grasses that were themselves starting to take on the colors of autumn.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.