Tag Archives: haze

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

Meadow’s Edge, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana

September 26, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees grow at the edges of Tuolumne Meadows as Lembert Dome and Mount Dana rise beyond, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph includes a bunch of Tuolumne Meadows icons familiar to most anyone who has spent time there – and I’ve spent a lot of time in and around this area over the years! The first obvious icon is the meadow itself, here near the “lower” section before it turns away from the highway and the Tuolumne River heads off towards Glen Aulin and eventually to the abomination of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The two prominences rising beyond the meadow are both icon. The closer of the two is Lembert Dome, well known to almost all visitors, especially the many who have hiked to its summit to experience the panoramic view of the area. Beyond Lembert Dome is Mount Dana, the second-highest peak in Yosemite. It is located on the eastern boundary of the park right above the entrance at Tioga Pass. For me, there are other icons in this scene as well, though they may be more personal. The lodgepole pine trees silhouetted along the right edge of the frame are found all over the region. The backlit haze, formed as the morning sun just clears the Sierra crest, is a condition that I strongly identify with Tuolumne – and it is a frequent photographic subject.

This simple shot posed some real technical challenges. Perhaps most obviously, the scene includes an extremely large dynamic range between the very bright areas of sunlit haze along the right shoulder of Mount Dana and the dark silhouettes of the backlit trees. In some situations I might make two exposures and blend them in post, but that does not work so well when thing tree trunks and branches stand against the sky. This is a single exposure that just barely contained the brightest tones, and from which I was able to recover just enough detail in the shadows. The composition might seem a bit odd to some, with the dark mass of the silhouetted trees very close to the right edge of the frame. The idea was to create a sense that the trees, or at least an observer among the trees, is looking out from them into the light-filled open space of the meadow.

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: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Half Dome, Dusk

September 21, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Half Dome and lone tree at dusk, from Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park.

Last week I was making the long drive back over the Tioga Pass Road from the “east side” following a short pack trip up into McGee Canyon. After catching an early dinner in Mammoth, I headed north and then up over the pass, crossing into Yosemite about an hour before sunset. I figured that this would give me one more chance to do a quick bit of photography before calling it quits and focusing on the drive back to the Bay Area. Since I had spent some time earlier in the week shooting in the Dana Fork meadows and in Tuolumne Meadows itself, I decided to continue on and just see where I might end up a half hour or so before sunset.

It turns out that the “where” ended up being Olmsted Point – not exactly an original place to shoot, but what the heck! In the back of my mind, of course, was the possibility of shooting the classic “back side” view of Half Dome if the evening light proved interesting enough. So one of the first things I did was scope out the precise spot where I wanted to shoot that subject a bit later. Then I turned my attention elsewhere. It turns out that there are quite a few other interesting things to photograph here: the trees across the road on the large glaciated dome, the trees below the parking area, sparse trees growing along ridge tops all around, side light from the setting sun, and much more. So while waiting to see how that Half Dome thing might develop, I shot a bunch of other subjects, all the while watching the evolving light down towards The Valley. At first it didn’t seem all that interesting. The light was a bit flat, perhaps due to cloud cover to the west, and the potentially interesting overhead clouds had a bit of a strange color cast. However, I suspected that after the sun set that there might be some interesting glow on the face from the west, and that the clouds still might pick up some interesting color. And, in fact, this photograph was made when the sun was no longer shining directly on Half Dome – instead it was illuminated to that “after glow” of the sunset as the very last sun began to color the streaming clouds beyond.

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

Trees and Meadow, Morning

September 19, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late season golden morning light on trees at the edge of Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park.

It is probably no secret that there are certain kinds of light that especially appeal to me. Among my favorite is early morning sunlight, shining through a bit of atmospheric haze, and illuminating trees. On top of that, I’m a big fan of the warm golden-brown tones of September and autumn in the Sierra. With all of that in mind, how could I resist this subject?

I was in Tuolumne Meadows for a couple of nights in mid-September, with two main goals in mind. First, I wanted to spend a few days at altitude before heading over to the east side to meet friends for a short pack trip up into McGee Canyon. Second – or perhaps this should be first – I wanted to do some photography in the area along Tioga Pass Road between roughly Olmsted Point and the pass itself. I arrived late the first day, with just enough time to set up camp, grab something to eat, and head out to shoot the evening light. I was up reasonably early the next morning and out and about looking for subjects before the sun came up. I decided to stick fairly close to the meadows this time, and after heading to the west end and looking back I saw this beautiful warm light coming across the meadow as the sun topped the crest near Mount Dana, and silhouetting a small group of tall trees at the meadow’s edge.

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

Muir Beach Overlook, Sutro Tower, Dusk

September 7, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

San Francisco’s Sutro Tower is visible in the distance beyond the Muir Beach Overlook in dusk light, in the Marin Headlands.

A few moments before making this photograph, I had decided that I was done for the evening, as the light was fading very fast and the brilliant and intense sunset and post-sunset colors were draining from the scene. But a turn or two up the road I came upon this overlook, with its view traversing the steep headlands toward the south to where the low hills of San Francisco just outside the Golden Gate were visible, Sutro Tower stood high above these hills, and subtle shades of blue and rose light were still visible.

So we pulled over, and I quickly got set up – again! – and made a few exposures in this dying light. This light is just about as subtle and difficult to photograph as it gets. In fact, I almost didn’t bother! On the scene, it was quite dark – darker than this rendition would suggest. And in that darker dusk, the haze that here partially conceals the San Francisco hills made them almost invisible.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: haze

Meadow’s Edge, Lembert Dome, and Mount Dana

Half Dome, Dusk

Trees and Meadow, Morning

Muir Beach Overlook, Sutro Tower, Dusk

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.