Tag Archives: group

Conservation/Environment, History, News, Photographers, Stories

The First Light Group, Through My Eyes

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I will have more to say about this video and its context in a later post (though see below for a bit more information), but I wanted to share this Scot Miller video about the band of photographers known informally as “The First Light Group” and my role in the group.

There’s a lot more to say about the First Light project, but for now here is a little background. In the early 2000s the group assembled, with support from the Yosemite Conservancy, and headed into the Sierra Nevada backcountry with a special mission: to place landscape photographers in the wilderness for extended periods of time to create photographs that embody the character of these remote places. Over a period of nearly two decades we photographed all over the range.

You can subscribe to Scot Miller’s YouTube channel, where you’ll find more First Light videos and plenty of other material from him.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (Click the title to see the full article and to comment if you are viewing it on the home page.)

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Morning Trees

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Morning Trees
“Morning Trees” — A small group of pine trees at Tuolumne Meadows in bright morning light.

Previously I have mentioned that certain boulders, hillocks, bends in creeks, and trees in the Sierra are “old friends” of mine that I have visited regularly for decades. These trees are among those friends. It isn’t unusual for me to photograph Tuolumne Meadows in the early morning, and these trees stands at the west end of the meadow, positioned before a panorama of meadow, forest, and peaks.

To be honest, it was no longer exactly “early morning” when I made this photograph, at least not by photography standards. (“Early” means things like arising at 3:00am, setting out on a hike at 3:30am, or arriving at a location more than a half hour before sunrise.) The sun had risen above the peaks of the Sierra Crest, and it was making the atmospheric haze glow.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

History, Locations, Photographers, Stories

Scot Miller’s ‘First Light’ Videos

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A bit more than two decades ago (I believe it was 2001), the Yosemite Fund (now the Yosemite Conservancy) initiated a project to put groups of landscape photographers into the Yosemite backcountry for a week or more at a time. With pack animal support, the photographers were able to bring the range of equipment required to do this work, and to remain “out there” long enough to become deeply acquainted with these places and produce an extensive body of photographic work.

The initial group was comprised of Charles Cramer, Karl Kroeber, Scot Miller, Mike Osborne, and Keith S. Walklet. I started tagging along in about 2008 and eventually became one of the gang. Over the years the group — will occasional others join us — continued to photograph in the Yosemite backcountry and eventually branched out to work in other locations in the high country.

There have been few projects like this one, supporting serious photography in the High Sierra over a period of many years and producing an exception body of work.

Scot Miller is not only a fine still photographer, but also a very accomplished videographer. In addition to making his own beautiful photographs on these trips, from the very beginning he was documenting the group’s work in video form. More recently Scot managed to do a series of interviews with each of us, and he has begun releasing them on YouTube.

Below are links to some of the videos that are currently available. First the “origin story” of the group.

Then pieces on three of the photographers:

Charles Cramer

Karl Kroeber

Mike Osborne.

And a bonus: The Longest Ride

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Snow Geese in Formation

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Snow Geese in Formation
“Snow Geese in Formation” — A group of snow geese in flight and lined up vertically.

Most of these migratory birds will likely have departed from their winter homes in Central California by the time you see this photograph. They arrive in the fall, overwinter, and then depart some time in early March. Back in the pandemic year of 2020 I visited one of the places where I photograph them about one week into March, and they were still there. I went back one week later, and they had all departed. The place seemed awfully lonely!

This group was part of a much larger flock that was in motion above wetland ponds — thousands of birds swirling around as they contemplated where they might land. The light was just right for this group — it came from the side and from down low, illuminating the birds’ undersides. (Often photos of birds overhead end up too dark against the bright sky.) I also like the fact that the five of them together demonstrate every phase of their wing flapping.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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