Tag Archives: haze

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

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light

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Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light
Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

Wilderness Lake, Late Season Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Hazy, late-season light at a Yosemite backcountry lake showing signs of autumn color.

On this first day of autumn I am queuing up this photograph to appear on my website a day later. (Some of you may see it on social media on the equinox.) The photograph provokes the question: When does fall actually start, anyway? It might seem like the objective answer would be obvious, but perhaps not as much as we would think. One definition — the most common one — says that fall, or autumn, beings on the date of the autumnal equinox when the sun is again directly overhead at the equator. However, I’m aware of at least two other ways of looking at this. One refers to so-called “meteorological fall,” which I understand to be the months of September, October, and November. (I’ve always felt that these were the months of autumn.) Another method, which also makes a lot of sense, starts and ends the seasons on so-called “cross quarter days,” the days midway between equinox and solstice.

This photograph falls into this gap and illustrates the conundrum. I made the photograph a few years ago when a group of use spent a few days photographing this backcountry Yosemite Lake and its surroundings… near the start of September. The astronomers will tell you it was still summer, but the meteorologists and backcountry travels will note that the scene had a distinctly autumnal quality, especially from the lovely red bilberry plants in the foreground. Whatever system you follow, there was no question that this was a day more full of the sensations of autumn than of summer.

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: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Mono Lake Islands, Morning

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Mono Lake Islands, Morning
Morning light and haze on Negit and Paoho Islands, Mono Lake and Mono Basin.

Mono Lake Islands, Morning. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light and haze on Negit and Paoho Islands, Mono Lake and Mono Basin.

There are many ways to look at Mono Lake, and a seemingly infinite number of viewpoints to use to take those looks. Many of the most common spots are along the western shoreline, not far from US 395. Not far behind are some of the better known tufa formations. But this is a huge lake and its visual presence is part of the experience throughout the Mono Basin and nearby portions of the Eastern Sierra. Wander about this greater landscape a bit and you’ll inevitably find new and often surprising ways to see the lake and its two volcanic islands.

Since there are so many vista points, the specific identity of any one of them seems somewhat beside the point. In this case I was in a high, quiet, and pleasantly lonely area along the eastern front of the Sierra very early in the morning, which gave me a higher perspective and let me clearly see the major mountains beyond the lake to the east. As the photograph was made in autumn, the typical haze in the atmosphere muted the details of the distant mountains.

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: Pacific Northwest

Lava Lake Shoreline

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Lava Lake Shoreline
Reflected forest along the rocky shoreline of Lava Lake, Oregon

Lava Lake Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflected forest along the rocky shoreline of Lava Lake, Oregon

Today I am sharing another photograph from my family trip to Oregon this past week. Although it wasn’t primarily a photography trip, I did make a few photographs. I did head out one day with the specific intent of photographing in the Cascade Lakes area in the general area of Mt. Bachelor, but I ran into truly awful wildfire smoke. At times it was thick enough that the closest peaks were not even visible. That little photographic foray turned out to be less than fruitful… if that is an appropriate way to say that “I came back with no photographs at all!”

But one morning I was up reasonably early and most of my family members (brothers and sister and the families of their kids) were all off doing other things. So I wandered out of the campground and took a pleasant solo hike along the rocky shoreline of Lava Lake. I’m far from an expert on the geology and geography of Oregon, but I was struck by how different it is (with a few exceptions) from the California landscape that I know so well. Here, aside from the striking volcanic peaks and formations, the land has a much lower profile. In places you can travel for miles in forest (quite a bit of which has been logged) and never see much beyond the row of trees at the road’s edge. This lake, apparently like many others in this area, sits on top of a volcanic base, and the shoreline is clearly composed of volcanic rocks.

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: Pacific Northwest

Shoreline Rocks and Grasses

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Shoreline Rocks and Grasses
Rocks and grasses along the shoreline of Lava Lake, Oregon

Shoreline Rocks and Grasses. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rocks and grasses along the shoreline of Lava Lake, Oregon

This past week I spent some time in the Cascade Lakes region of Oregon. This was a family event — not a photography trip — so I did not come back with a whole lot of photographs! The thick wildfire smoke in Oregon also limited the opportunities to do photography… not to mention the opportunities to breath healthy air. The smoke sort of came and went over the first few days, but on my final day in the state it was horrendous. Unfortunately, almost the entire West is suffering from this right now, and it doesn’t seem likely that the situation will improve for another month or two.

We stayed at a pretty, quiet little lake nestled in the woods, Lava Lake. Various members of my family managed to take about a half dozen campsites there. While I spent most of my time doing the “family thing,” on this morning I went for a solo walk along the shoreline of the lake. True to its name, the banks are largely rough lava, and here a bit of that rocky material extends into the water near grasses.

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.