Tag Archives: lake

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

Quiet Shoreline, Morning

December 8, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A quiet morning shoreline at a subalpine lake, Yosemite National Park

This is a “quiet” photograph — no warm golden hour coloration, no grand vista, no motion. This is a very early morning scene. The sun has risen, but is still behind higher ridges to the east, so the shoreline is in shadow. The water is almost completely still, and although the photograph can’s show this, it is very quiet.

This is a beautiful time of day in the high country. The cold air makes fingers numb and encourages one to look for those first beams of warm light that will soon come over the ridge. The place itself is quiet, and that quiet seems to encourage me to move quietly as well, as I start my search for photographic subjects.

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

Granite Shoreline, Sunset Peak

December 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last sunset light shines on a granite peak above granite outcroppings along a forest-lined subalpine lake, Yosemite National Park

On the day after a long hike to our destination at a high subalpine lake, where we set up camp and settled in for a longish stay, we had gotten up on this morning and started the work of photographing here. The day began early, before sunrise, as we made our first get-acquainted photographs along the shoreline of the lake and then continued to photograph in to the morning hours. As is typical, we returned to camp once the beautiful morning light was replaced by the less compelling light of midday, where we enjoyed the camp rituals of sitting around and talking, sharing meals, taking care of camp chores, and formulating plans for evening photography. After (a very early) dinner, the late afternoon light was about to become interesting, and it was time to head out once again.

As is usually the case (and almost the necessity) among landscape photographers, we each mostly worked alone — though we also encountered one another at times as we wandered the area. We continued shooting as late afternoon turned toward early evening, with shadows lengthening and the color of the light warming. A few benign clouds appeared above nearby ridges as I photographed in quiet forested areas along the lake. The sun dropped toward the horizon, deepening the shadows where I was working, so I moved to a more open area where I could see a small granite peninsula, lakeside trees, and unnamed peaks on the ridge to the east as the last sun touched their summits and the light reflected on the lake’s surface. I made a few final photographs, the light faded, and I walked back towards camp in the evening quiet as darkness arrived.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Northern California

Mountains, Lake, Peninsula

November 24, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A peninsula at San Luis Reservoir, with distant hills and autumn clouds

I often pass this location on my way to and from other places — the Sierra, Southern California, the deserts, the Southwest, bird photography locations — but I almost never stop, despite the fact that this can be a place of huge spaces and beautiful light and atmosphere. The reasons for passing it by are perhaps many: I’ve been by it many times over a period of many decades, it isn’t easy to find a place to pull over and stop, it is a manmade reservoir, and I’m usually more focused on getting to or coming back from one of those other places.

Recently I made my first trip of the season out to the migratory bird areas of the Central Valley where I like to do a lot of photography in the late-fall through winter months. This visit was perhaps a bit early for real bird photography, but it gave me a chance to get back to that area that I enjoy so much… and it was a foggy day! (The fog and hazy atmosphere of the Central Valley are major attractions for me.) The bird photography out there was merely OK on this visit and, as planned, I only stayed there for the morning before returning home. As I climbed past the huge earthen dam of this reservoir I was struck by the hazy sunlight on brown hills and the brilliantly bright clouds to the south across the expanse of the water. At first I kept going, but I soon came to my senses, found a place to turn around, and headed back to an overlook where I made a few photographs of this landscape.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Nevada, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Crystal Bay, Lake Tahoe

November 9, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

My annual hunt for aspen color took me to the Lake Tahoe area in early October. I realized that although I’ve gone to Tahoe for many years that I have very few photographs of the area. So often Tahoe has been a place to go for other purposes, such as skiing or a cabin stay, etc. And, frankly, Lake Tahoe is very busy and, in many ways, an urbanized place — so my nature and wilderness instincts are often a bit frustrated there. But it is a beautiful lake, and I saw more of that when I went there with photographic intentions.

The underlying reason this time has to do with a project related to fall color in the mountains of California. I’ve covered many other Sierra fall color areas, but I needed more material from the Tahoe area. So I spent an evening, a full day, and part of a morning doing some exploring. The “full day” began with a drive to the Carson City, Nevada and then north towards Reno and back toward Tahoe via Mount Rose. There were quite a few aspens along this part of the drive, but I couldn’t stop much due to road construction. Then I did something I’ve done a number of times before — I circumnavigated the lake, paying special attention to fall color. I realized that there is quite a lot of it, even if much of the color is in areas filled with cabins and resorts. This photograph overlooks the northeast part of the lake from the roadway descending from Mt. Rose.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: lake

Quiet Shoreline, Morning

Granite Shoreline, Sunset Peak

Mountains, Lake, Peninsula

Crystal Bay, Lake Tahoe

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