Tag Archives: ice

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

Sky and Ice

July 1, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Shoreline water reflects evening sky and clouds along the edge of melting winter ice patterns on an alpine lake in Yosemite National Park, California.

This morning I am back from several days of photographing on either side of the Sierra Nevada crest in the Mono Lake, Tioga Pass, and Tuolumne Meadows area. It is a beautiful early season in the Sierra – the wet and long-lasting winter produced a good snow pack (a substantial portion of which is still there if you go high enough) and now there is water everywhere.

After a mid-afternoon dinner, we headed up a short but steep and muddy trail through newly-emerging plants to reach a broad, snow-covered saddle. From this vantage point we were surprised to see that the valley below was still snow-covered, and that this large lake was almost fully covered by ice, with alternating patterns of thicker ice and melt-water pools. After descending to the lake, I climbed partway up the slope at one end to get a better angle on the ice and the reflected blue light from the sky. This photograph shows evening sky and clouds reflecting in the bit of open water close the shoreline.

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.

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

Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening

June 20, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Evening light on snow-covered Mounts Dana and Gibbs reflected on the surface of the flooding Tuolumne River, Tuolumne Meadows.

Tioga Pass opened this year on June 5, a bit later than usual. The late opening was due to a slightly greater than average amount of precipitation this past winter and a cold and wet May. As a consequence, there was a lot of snow on opening day, and lots and lots of run-off water.

I made this photograph in the evening in Tuolumne Meadows as the late light was just leaving the tops of the trees below Lembert Dome and beginning to color the summits of Mounts Dana and Gibbs with warm “golden hour” light. The Tuolumne River was so full that it had flooded large sections of the meadow – parts looked more like “Tuolumne Lake” than Tuolumne Meadow. Because the meadow was still covered with snow, the surface of the flooded areas was full of ice and slush. The overall appearance was closer to that of a winter scene, even though the calendar said early June.

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

Early Season Ice on Tenaya Lake

June 11, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Black and white photograph of early season ice on the surface of Tenaya Lake with high granite peaks and domes beyond, Yosemite National Park, California.

A long-lens version of the classic view of Tenaya Lake from Olmsted Point, made on the day that Tioga Pass Road opened for the season and while ice still covered almost all of the surface of the lake. Peaks and domes tower above the lake, including the heights of Mount Conness near the upper left. In a larger version of this photograph, many seasonal waterfalls are visible along the sides of the cliffs and domes.

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 210mm
ISO 200, f/5.1, 1/400 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, california, usa, north america, tenaya, lake, dome, conness, peak, ridge, snow, ice, field, forest, granite, cliff, june, olmsted, point, landscape, nature, cloud, sky, black and white, monochrome, tioga, pass, road, highway, 120, trans, scenic, travel, stock

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

Mammoth Peak and Ice-Covered Tioga Lake

June 9, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A late winter scene with ice-covered Tioga Lake and snow-capped Mammoth Peak at Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park, California.

The view of Mammoth Peak from the Tioga Pass area is a favorite of mine, and I rarely cross the pass without stopping to at least take a look. My favorite light on Mammoth Peak comes late in the afternoon when it strikes the peak from the side, bringing the textures into relief, especially when there are still snow patches.

The conditions in this photograph are fleeting, in that the photograph was made during the brief interval between full high-country winter and the “summer” season, during which the lakes quickly become free of ice. On this early June day the late afternoon shadows of clouds and nearby peaks fall across the mostly frozen surface of Tioga Lake which is marked by a few areas that are beginning to melt out.

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

Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM at 149mm
ISO 200, f/16, 1/200 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, california, usa, north america, tioga, tuolumne, lake, kuna, crest, mammoth, peak, snow capped, ice, covered, frozen, pass, road, trans-sierra, highway, 120, sky, clouds, shadows, forest, trees, ice, pond, melt, shadow, reflection, nature, winter, spring, season, thaw, stock, landscape, nature

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: ice

Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening

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Mammoth Peak and Ice-Covered Tioga Lake

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