Tag Archives: haze

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Trees, Shoreline of North Lake

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Aspen Trees, Shoreline of North Lake - Autumn aspen trees line the shoreline of North Lake in morning light.
Autumn aspen trees line the shoreline of North Lake in morning light.

Aspen Trees, Shoreline of North Lake. North Lake, Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen trees line the shoreline of North Lake in morning light.

I had exactly one day to photograph eastern Sierra aspen color this week – and that may be my only shot at it this fall, with the possible exception of something closer to the middle of the month. I was in the Bishop Creek area for this single day, starting very early in the morning in the area generally around North Lake and then shooting along South Lake road into the early evening. This photograph was made at North Lake. Since I’ve photographed there many times, I rarely head straight for the best known spots, but instead poke around a bit and try to find somewhat different angles on things and/or photograph small details instead of the grand scene. This photograph is looking back across the lake toward the larger Bishop Creek Canyon in the distance, and light beams slant down across the low ridge near the end of the lake.

A quick report for those wondering how the color is doing and when to go. The colors are doing very well. If you are hoping to shoot some of the higher elevations on the east side of the Sierra, I recommend not waiting very long this year. The North, South, and Sabrina Lakes areas of Bishop Creek were in spectacular form when I was there around the middle of the week. I was not expecting much, since some of the reports I had read were less than encouraging. But in many places the colors were as good or almost as good as I have ever seen them, and the colorful trees were extending down to lower elevations that I would expect for this very early October date. For example, the colors at Cardinal Meadow were stunning. Nothing was really yet past its prime, but the higher areas are likely to reach that stage very soon, I would think.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Beach Walker, Mendocino Coast

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Beach Walker, Mendocino Coast
“Beach Walker, Mendocino Coast” — A person walks across a beach on the rugged Mendocino coast at sunset.

This photograph is from last fall, during a late-October trip to the Mendocino area of the northern California coast. The Mendocino coast is an area I have known about for some time, but which I have not visited that much at all. (It is among a few areas of California that I’ll sometime admit that I have not yet gotten to know. Oddly, there are large swaths of far northern California that are more or less blanks on my map. I need to fix this!) We had about three days in the area, and since it was brand new to use we did a fair amount of more or less aimless exploring.

One one afternoon we decided to head north to and beyond Fort Bragg, which is located just a few miles above Mendocino itself, where we were staying. We continued north a ways until the road turned inland and away from the coastline. After stopping there to make some photographs of a forested area we began to head back towards Mendocino. As we drove the light became more and more interesting. The generally gentler light of late October began to be enhanced to the soft quality of coastal light and by the late hour, and as we descended to this small beach I looked to my right and saw this beautiful bit of light and shadow. We quickly stopped and I pulled out camera and tripod and worked essentially from the back of the car where we had stopped. I had only a few quick moments to photograph this scene before the sun dipped to the horizon and the light was gone.

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

Tuolumne Meadows, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana

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Tuolumne Meadows, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana - Lembert Dome and the more distant Mount Dana rise above Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park
Lembert Dome and the more distant Mount Dana rise above Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

Tuolumne Meadows, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana. Yosemite National Park, California. September 13, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lembert Dome and the more distant Mount Dana rise above Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

This photograph is from my mid-September trip to the Sierra – I spent the first couple of days camped at Tuolumne Meadows before heading over to the “east side” to meet friends for a short pack trip up into McGee Canyon. The photograph was made from what might be described as the central meadow, shooting across a bend in the Tuolumne River, over a band of forest trees, with first Lembert Dome and then Mount Dana rising beyond. Lembert is the well-known dome that towers above the east end of the meadow, and there is a popular trail to the panoramic views at its summit. Mount Dana is the second-tallest peak in the park, being less than 100 feet shorter than Mt. Lyell. Dana sits on the eastern boundary of the park, along the Sierra crest right above Tioga Pass.

Although it was not longer early (at least by my standards) morning when I made this photograph, the typical early morning haze was still present. At this time of year it is a combination of the campfires at Tuolumne Meadows (a relatively small contributor on this morning), typical late season wild-fire smoke, and a bit of natural atmospheric haze. When backlit, this haze can almost glow, and while it does mute the contrast and details on more distant subjects, it also can accentuate the sense of distance through atmospheric recession. I chose to go with a black and white rendition of this scene for several reasons. One, frankly, is just because I felt like it! But on top of that, I like the way that monochrome can perhaps abstract the shapes and lines of the scene a bit more. And in this case, I ended up feeling that shades of gray might be more effective than the particular not-very-exciting color combinations in the scene!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees and Cliff, Morning

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Trees and Cliff, Morning - Morning light spills over a high ridge to back light trees near Steelhead Lake.
Morning light spills over a high ridge to back light trees near Steelhead Lake.

Trees and Cliff, Morning. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. September 16. 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light spills over a high ridge to back light trees near Steelhead Lake.

This photograph was made from a point perhaps ten feet (or less!) from my bivy sack. We were camped at out-of-the-way Steelhead Lake, up above McGee Canyon and off the main trail to McGee Lakes and McGee Pass. While I had looked up McGee Canyon from the trailhead before – almost every year while photographing aspens, in fact – this was the first time that I had backpacked up this route and had a chance to actually explore the area. We ended up staying at this lake for two nights, providing time to do a bit of exploration and to see certain subjects that I might have missed with a shorter visit.

I had seen and photographed (though in a different way) this little clump of lakeside trees the morning before, but after thinking about them a bit more I felt that I’d like to shoot them again the next morning. The light at this lake is a bit tricky in that there is a very high ridge to the south and east that blocks the light until quite late in the morning. No morning golden hour shots at this lake! The ridge holds two of the four “railroad baron” peaks that surround Pioneer Basin – Crocker and Stanford. (The other two are Hopkins and Huntington.) A few years ago I had investigated Pioneer Basin on a separate trip and had stood on top of this very ridge and looked down towards this year’s camp. In any case, I had an idea to shoot the trees against backlight, and almost as soon as the sun appeared above this ridge I went to work. I had to shoot essentially straight into the sun in order to get the glowing atmosphere in the canyon beyond the first ridge, and even with a long focal length I was barely able to keep my hand out of the frame as I shaded to front of the lens.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.