Summit Boulders and Tree, Sunset. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Sunset light on the summit of a Yosemite granite dome on a hazy late-summer evening.
Even back before the recent increase in California wildfires, smoke haze was common during the later summer and early autumn months in the Sierra Nevada and, for that matter, over much of the state. For years I noticed that something was different about the atmosphere in September, and it wasn’t until relatively recently that I realized that the hazy softness in the September sky is, at least in part, due to widespread smoke. To be sure, most of the time it this haze is subtle. And, it can also be beautiful in the right situation. On this evening, it softened and warmed the light just before sunset.
We had been camped in this area for several days, and on this evening I took a long and slow walk with my camera. I headed around the far side of the lake that was next to our camp, gradually working my way toward a high point beyond that overlooks one of the great canyons of the Yosemite backcountry. On this summit I found a few glacial erratics and one small tree hiding in their shadow. I paused to make this photograph, then continued on along the spine of the low peak to descend back towards camp on the other side.
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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