Tag Archives: hill

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sheep, Morning Fog

November 1, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A flock of sheep grazes under morning fog in an eastern Sierra Nevada meadow

There is a long tradition of grazing sheep (and cattle) in parts of the Sierra Nevada. Many years ago they were taken to the high country in the summer season – a practice that Muir railed against, describing their effect on the vegetation of the high Sierra as that of “hoofed locusts.” Today we don’t see grazing in the high country anymore since these areas are now protected as wilderness, outside or inside national parks in many cases. But the tradition continues in the lower country along the eastern side of the range.

For many years I have seen the occasional flock of sheep on the east side, sometimes close to the mountains (as is the case here) and more often a bit further out into the semi-desert highlands. Often there will be a shepherd standing guard and perhaps a sheep dog or two. (One flock we saw this time also contained, for reasons that I can’t quite understand, a single black mule.) Sometimes you will see the small trailer nearby where the shepherd lives. The flock in this photograph was one of two very large groups in close proximity to one another in an area south of Mammoth Lakes and right alongside highway 395. I had driven here to try to photograph the morning fog that was drifting from Crowley Lake, and we got there just as it was clearing from this spot, with light beams shining through the breaks in the cloud.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria

Hohenwerfen Castle

September 10, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hohenwerfen Castle stands on a hill above Werfen, Austria, in the Salzach Valley with the alps as a backdrop.

This castle has an almost “fairytale” appearance, standing alone atop a tall hill in the middle of the Salzach river valley with tall mountains rising on almost all sides. It is not far from Salzburg, Austria. From what I have read, the actual story might be a bit more prosaic, and there is even a hint that the castle may be associated with some grim and somewhat awful stuff in its role as a place where various people were imprisoned.

We had come here to visit the popular Eisreisenwelt Ice Caves, high up in the mountains above the castle and the valley. The castle is an obvious central point of interest in the valley, but perhaps because we had been so high up in the mountains I had not really thought to photograph it. However, as we came back down on the road from Eisriesenwelt to the valley, we came to a hairpin turn closer to the valley where we suddenly had an unobstructed view of the castle with the town behind and successive mountain valleys rising beyond. Although it looks clear in the photo, it was raining lightly from a passing thunderstorm and this made the light a bit more dramatic.

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Trees and Grass, Die Eiskapelle

August 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Momentary sunshine illuminates a grass-covered hill and small trees in front of Die Eiskapelle at the base of Der Watzmann, near Königssee, Germany

We hiked to this spot on one of the first days of our stay in the Schönau am Königssee area of Bavaria in Germany, where we stayed in an old, rambling farm-house for a week. Aside from the general charm of the area – conforming to many of the expectations of American visitors – there are a lot of special features around here: Berchtesgaden National Park and the Königssee itself, along with the views of the Bavarian Alps, including the classic peak of Der Watzmann, the second highest peak in Germany. We took the tourist boats up the length of the beautiful Königssee lake – which I think of as what Yosemite Valley might look like if it were filled with water – and disembarked at the start of the trail to Die Eiskapelle. This trail begins at the very civilized landing, with its outdoor cafe, beach, and lawns, and starts up the hill very gently. It soon enters the hardwood forest, narrows, steepens, and begins to feel more like the sorts of trails I’m familiar with from the American mountain west.

Die Eiskapelle is in a small, rocky valley at the base of a huge cliff dropping down from the eastern face of Der Watzmann. As I understand it, the permanent ice field seen at its base in this photograph is formed by repeated avalanches that come down this face. The July time frame of our visit usually is when I spend a lot of my time in the Sierra, and as wonderful as our trip to the UK and Europe was, at times I longed a bit for “my Sierra.” In the upper reaches of this trail, as the path disappeared and I was left to find my own route across bits of grassy meadow and rocky terrain to the base of the snow field, I felt as close to the Sierra as at any time on this trip – the feeling reminded me a bit of early season in my favorite terrain among the granite peaks right at timberline. And, momentarily returning to landscape photographer mode (despite using a small, handheld camera!), I paused here for some minutes, looking for a composition that would combine these small foreground trees with the ice field and then waiting for a bit of light from the broken clouds to move across this small grassy rise.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Tree Covered Hillside, Cliff

June 16, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early autumn afternoon back-light on high country trees and shadows on a sandstone cliff face, Zion National Park

Perhaps surprisingly, trees were a big draw for me during my several visits to Zion National Park in October last year, and not just the trees that were getting their fall color. The junipers and pines are also intriguing, especially when backed by sandstone or lit from behind by low angle light as in this photograph.

This area near the eastern boundary of the park has intrigued me but also puzzled me each time I have stopped there. Nearly is a significant and named park feature that seems to be the main reason for stopping. It is an impressive geological feature… but, for the life of me, I have not been able to find a way to make an interesting photograph of it. Yet each time I passed by, I stopped and looked and pondered and (most often) did not photograph it. However, with each successive stop I began to pay more attention to other features in this spot: the big cliff on the other side of the valley on which colors fade from gray-white to red, the many trees that stand with enough space between them to allow back-light to pick them off individually, and more.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: hill

Sheep, Morning Fog

Hohenwerfen Castle

Trees and Grass, Die Eiskapelle

Tree Covered Hillside, Cliff

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