Tag Archives: haze

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

A Tree Revealed

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A Tree Revealed
The branches of a winter oak tree, with only a few autumn leaves remaining.

A Tree Revealed. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The branches of a winter oak tree, with only a few autumn leaves remaining.

This tree stands alongside a trail that I’ve hiked for years, one that runs up a little valley in the oak-grassland hills south of the San Francisco Bay. I have hiked here in all seasons for decades, but I think winter is still my favorite on this route. On Christmas Eve Day, it was sunny and pleasantly cool, with haze muting the light a bit. I approached this tree from the other side, and didn’t see the color of the leaves until I looked back it after passing.

It might surprise people from other parts of the country, but quite a few trees around here still have their leaves, either because they never drop them or because, like this oak, they manage to hang onto them all the way into the new year. While this oak still has a few leaves, glowing in the sunlight, most of them have fallen, revealing the silhouette of the trees branching structure.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak

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Winter Haze, Dormant Oak
A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

Winter Haze, Dormant Oak. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A large oak tree backed by haze-obscured winter hills.

On a Christmas Eve when large sections of the country are freezing and dealing with blizzard conditions, it might seem almost cruel to share this Christmas Eve Day photograph from here in the San Francisco Bay Area, made on a brief hike in our local hills earlier today. In fact, I was wearing short sleeves. On the other hand, perhaps some of you would like to be distracted by a scene from a warmer, drier place?

This scene, odd as it may seem to people who aren’t from here, is typical of winter in this part of the West. The trees lose their leaves, though later than in other parts of the country, but then winter grasses begin to grow. The period from now through the next four or five months is our green season. Today the atmosphere was hazy, and the backlight made it luminous.

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

Outlet, Morning

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Outlet, Morning
Morning light shines on the formations of a canyon containing the outlet stream of an alpine lake.

Outlet, Morning. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Morning light shines on the formations of a canyon containing the outlet stream of an alpine lake.

Don’t hold me to this… but this may be the final photograph in the series from the August Eastern Sierra backcountry trip. A group of us entered the wilderness, set up a base camp, and photographed the area for a week. The group included Michael Frye, Claudia Welsh, Franka Gabler, David Hoffman, Jerry Bosworth, Patty Mitchell, and me — a fine group of colleagues and friends with whom to spend the week! We survived a torrential rain storm on our first day or two, then explored the area around our camp and on up into the high, alpine country nearby.

If you have been following my posts from the trip, this subject perhaps seems familiar by now. The outlet stream from the lake where we camped empties suddenly into a fairly narrow and rugged canyon that descends to a larger valley beyond. The morning light here was often quite beautiful, coming from beyond and somewhat to the right. On this morning a bit of haze, likely from wildfires, glowed in the backlight and slightly muted the details of more distant features.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

The Ridges Beyond

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The Ridges Beyond
“The Ridges Beyond” — A series of Eastern Sierra ridges leads to the east beyond a backcountry lake in morning light.

Because variations on this particular scene comprise a significant portion of the photographs I made during our August Sierra backcountry sojourn I have been trying to release them somewhat gradually. However, even though I shared a quite different version of the view from this camera position just a few days ago, here’s another. This one is, obviously, a near-panorama rendition that takes in the far edge of “our” little lake, its outlet, surrounding ridges, the more distant scene, and some beautiful morning clouds. The whole scene is softened by a bit of backlit morning haze.

Sometimes I’m immediately certain of what a photograph will look like as I make the exposure. But other times I’m less sure and I reserve judgment, perhaps making multiple exposures that will work for any of several possible directions I might take with the subject. That was the case with this scene — multiple “takes” were required not only for that reason but also to ensure that I’d be able to work with some rather extreme light contrasts between the shadowed foreground and the very bright clouds and sky.

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.

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