Tag Archives: high

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn – Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys

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Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn - Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys

Autumn Storm Clouds at Dawn – Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light above the Buttermilks illumunates Basin Mountain and Mount Humphreys under the clouds of an early autumn storm over the Sierra Nevada crest.

This is another of several exposures I made on this beautiful early October morning when I decided to abandon my plans to be at North Lake for dawn after spotting these astonishing clouds over the eastern Sierra as I drove through the Buttermilks on my way up into the Bishop Creek drainage. I drove out on gravel roads into the high desert until I found what looked like an interesting juxtaposition of near hills, mountains beyond, the peaks of the Sierra in the distance, and the clouds that were dropping light snow up higher in the range above.

Needless to say, the light and the cloud forms were constantly changing as I watched this scene. I waited until the closer rocky hills began to pick up a bit of a glow from the sun low in the eastern sky, and then I made a number of exposures as the sun struck lower on the mountains and as the patterns of light and shadow from racing clouds moved across the peaks.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: basin, mountain, mount, humphreys, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, crest, buttermilk, high, desert, owens, valley, trees, rocks, boulders, morning, dawn, light, illuminate, black and white, dramatic, ridge, peak, shadow, storm, clouds, patterns, bishop, california, usa, eastern, slope, escarpment, season, fall, autumn, early, stock

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

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

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Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall. Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry corn lily leaves and plants as Sierra Nevada summer plants go dormant at the beginning of the fall season – Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

On the first evening of my brief two-day visit to Upper Cathedral Lake, I wandered up a narrow ravine near where we were camped, hoping to eventually get up high for some photographs of dome-like formations and the lake and Cathedral Peak beyond. But almost immediately I became distracted by much more intimate subjects closer at hand in the shaded and diffused light of the gully. Near the top of a narrow section I came across a large bed of old corn lily plants that had reached the end of their short summer-season lives and had fallen over in interesting and complex patterns.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: corn, lily, plant, wild, flora, foliage, brown, tan, dead, dry, leaf, stem, branch, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, summer, fall, dormant, season, change, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, upper, cathedral, lake, camp, hike, backpack, tuolumne, meadows, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, texture, pattern, needle, stock

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Basin Mountain, Morning Light

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Basin Mountain, Morning Light

Basin Mountain, Morning Light. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning light with clearing clouds above Basin Mountain and the Sierra Crest near the high desert of the Buttermilks, Sierra Nevada, California.

I awoke well before dawn in Bishop on this early October morning with intentions of being at a location such as North Lake for dawn, but as I ascended the road into the Sierra from Bishop I was distracted by impressive cloud formations over the Sierra crest around Basin Mountain and the peaks of the crest. I spontaneously made a change in plans and turned off the main road towards the Buttermilks to see if I could find a place to photograph this scene before it all ended.

There is a small “village” up Starlite Road from 168, and a gravel road continues beyond it. This road soon took me to the top of a small hill before a big drop-off and once I spotted the way the peaks lined up and the location of the trees I decided to stop here, set up, and be ready to shoot dawn light.

While the light itself seems quite interesting, one of the most unusual features is seen in the shape of the clouds above the crest – they almost trace the rough outline of the high peaks.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: basin, mountain, sierra, nevada, crest, range, peak, ridge, escarpment, morning, dawn, early, light, glow, alpenglow, buttermilk, country, hills, high, desert, pink, cloud, pattern, lenticular, sunrise, trees, rocks, sage, sky, blue, clearing, weather, california, usa, bishop, starlite, tree, forest, slope, landscape, stock, owens, valley

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

Sunset Virga, Mount Conness

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Sunset Virga, Mount Conness

Sunset Virga, Mount Conness. Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Viewed from Fletcher Lake, virga illuminated by sunset light falls over the Sierra Nevada crest near Mount Conness – Yosemite National Park, California.

I’ve had this one sitting on my (computer) desktop for the past couple of weeks, so I think it is time to post it. On this late summer evening that in many ways felt more like early fall, a surprise thunderhead rose up above Mount Conness in the late afternoon, dropping rain for a while and continuing to drop virga as dusk came on. (“Virga” is the precipitation that falls from high clouds but evaporates before reaching the ground.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: rain, virga, cloud, dissipate, sky, evening, sunset, dusk, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, mount, conness, forest, tree, rock, boulder, bench, meadow, grass, rock, late, summer, dry, brown, golden, red, ridge, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, backpack, camp, hike, nature, alpenglow, stock