Tag Archives: july

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

Lodgepole Pine, Evening Shadows

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Lodgepole Pine, Evening Shadows
Lodgepole Pine, Evening Shadows

Lodgepole Pine, Evening Shadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 22, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The evening shadow cast by a nearby high ridge approaches a lone lodgepole pine and an old snag near Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

One of my favorite kinds of light is that found at the edges of shadows from higher peaks as they move across lower terrain. (A secret: Among other “tricks,” I like to find and follow these margins when I shoot in Yosemite Valley, too.) Because this light most often happens during the relatively early and late hours of the day, the color quality of the light tends to be warm and the angle low. As the patterns of light and shadow move across the landscape, individual elements may get picked out the light and can often be isolated against darker backgrounds, as in this photograph.

The Sierra is full of trees pretty much like this one, and such meadows with the isolated small and large trees and scattered boulders are not hard to find. This particular tree is in one of the extensive meadow areas in the general area of Tioga Pass. The photograph was made in the very late afternoon as the tall ridge to the west was blocking the sun.

Despite the still and tranquil nature of the scene, this is an example of a sort of shot that reveals the wrongness of the idea that all landscape is done slowly and methodically and with all the time in the world to work. Sometimes that is the case, but when you work the margins of shadows (or many similar dynamic subjects) there may only be brief seconds when the light is where you want it. An observer might find it humorous to watch the photographer run to get into position and then work very quickly.

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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

Shoreline Grasses and Subalpine Pond

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Shoreline Grasses and Subalpine Pond
Shoreline Grasses and Subalpine Pond

Shoreline Grasses and Subalpine Pond. Yosemite National Park, California. July 22, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Passing clouds reflected in the surface of a subalpine pond with summer meadow grass, Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

I made this photograph on a special afternoon late last July. Although I had been across Tioga Pass earlier in the season when it was still very snowy, this was my first real visit to the summer high country of the season. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon with just a few fluffy clouds floating about when I came to the meadows near Tioga Pass. The color of the meadow grasses was at just that perfect point that we think of when we imagine summer subalpine meadows – the intense green just before the wildflowers bloom and the inevitable change toward fall begins. (Yes, after some summers in the high country this cycle becomes clearer and clearer.)

I left my car, loaded up a pack of camera equipment, and just wandered the meadow for a good portion of the late afternoon, photographing the grass, the small trees, brooks and snow-melt ponds, and more. By sauntering about with no particular destination in mind I was able to “follow my nose” and find things that I had not seen in this meadow before, including more ponds than I had been aware of. These grasses were growing along the edge of an obscure pond with a complex and curving shoreline, and I photographed them as a few of those small clouds floated by.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email
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

Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows

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Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows
Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows

Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 22, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Young lodgpole pines grow in front of a Dana Meadows pond as Mammoth Peak looms in the distance.

Late in July of this somewhat wet year, the portion of Dana Meadows that extends almost up to the top of Tioga Pass was still very green and a bit wet, with small streams flowing through it and seasonal tarns still full. Being careful to avoid the boggy spots, I wandered down in to this section of the meadow near where the old roadbed is still visible and found small ponds and young trees trying to infiltrate the meadow. Here the pond reflects clouds floating towards Mammoth Peak, the high point at the end of Kuna Crest, on the other side of which is found the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne River.

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.

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

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows

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Runoff Pool, Evening - Tuolumne Meadows

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Grass bordered early summer runoff pool in Toulumne Meadows reflects sunset clouds and the summit of Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.

I made this photograph on a very early-season visit to the Tuolumne Meadows area in early July of this year. Since this was a below-normal precipitation year, the road to the pass cleared a bit on the early side and by early July almost all of the snow was gone at road level – but there was still a good amount of run-off water in Tuolumne Meadows. (Though nothing like in the big precipitation years, when portions of the meadow become more lake than solid ground.) There were some interesting clouds this evening so I wandered out into one of my favorite areas in the lower end of the meadow as the day ended and photographed the new grasses and pools of water that reflected sky, clouds, and surrounding peaks. In the distance the summit of Ragged Peak marks the location of Young Lakes.

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.

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