Tag Archives: lake

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Tioga Crest, Evening

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Tioga Crest, Evening
“Tioga Crest, Evening” — Tioga Crest in sunset light, reflected in a small pond.

This ridge lies a bit east of the actual Sierra Nevada Crest, just outside of Yosemite National Park’s eastern boundary. The peaks along the park boundary are magnificent examples of the rugged, rocky landscape that characterizes the highest parts of the range. But the ridge in this photograph is different. Despite being over 11,000′ high, on its western side it looks like… a really big hill, with little of the rocky, rugged alpine quality that we expect from these high mountains.

After my early backcountry dinner (as usual, eaten from the bag into which I had poured the cup of boiling water), I headed out for my evening photography. As the last sunlight left the lake where we camped I looked to distant high points where that warm light still shone. Here I lined up the peak with its reflection in a small pond only steps from my campsite.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Meadow and Path

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Trees, Meadow and Path
“Trees, Meadow and Path” — A wilderness path leads past a small creek, meadow, and trees to the shoreline of a subalpine Sierra Nevada lake.

In late July I headed into the Sierra Nevada backcountry on a short backpack trip with a group of friends. The trip was special, as I first backpacked with some of them decades ago. It had been quite a while since I went into the wilderness with this gang — so it was something of a reunion. Of course, being the only photographer on the trip meant that I did end up spending some time alone, especially in the early mornings.

Why is that? Well, apparently normal people do not climb out of their sleeping bags when it is still cold and dark outside, and then head out carrying photography gear to look for composition in the pre-dawn light. I hear that most o them, in fact, stay in their sleeping bags, waiting for the sun to warm their tents! I spent a couple of early hours wandering this alpine landscape, making this photograph before the direct sunlight had yet arrived here.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

First Light — Tufa, Clouds, Mountains

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First Light — Tufa, Clouds, Mountains
“First Light — Tufa, Clouds, Mountains” — The first dawn light on Mono Lake tufa towers, with desert mountains and morning ing clouds in the distance.

The landscape of Mono Lake and Mono Basin seems reduced to essentials: rocks, mountains, water, sky, light. And all of this is in a place of uncommon quiet and immense space — it is difficult to truly comprehend the scale of the basin. These qualities seem especially strong if you come down from the peaks and intimate landscapes of the nearby Sierra Nevada.

I was out there early on this July morning — having literally “come down” from those peaks near the Sierra crest in predawn darkness. Rather than getting close to the famous tufa formations, my goal was to photograph the lake and its surroundings from a distance, using long lenses to bring together some of the close features and distant elements of the landscape.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

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

Two Shorelines

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Two Shorelines
“Two Shorelines” — Shoreline trees, meadows, and rocks reflected in the water of a small subalpine Sierra lake.

Many of my photographs from this July backpack trip in the Eastern Sierra featured views of the “grand landscape” — long and high mountain ridges, lakes backed by tall mountains, and so forth. This one focuses on closer subjects including the shoreline that I was standing on and the meadow and sparse forest on the other side of this small bay.

I made the photograph early in the day, at just about the end of my morning photography. The soft and warm light of early morning was fading away and beginning to be more harsh. I was first interested in the little rocky outcropping just to the left of center, and I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose that with the further forest across the water.

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.