Tag Archives: lake

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

Morning Shadows and Symmetry

Image Leave a comment
Morning Shadows and Symmetry
“Morning Shadows and Symmetry” — The line between morning light and shadow descends a talus slope toward a lake, revealing mirror image symmetries.

Getting out of your tent before dawn isn’t easy when it is cold and dark outside and you have to leave a warm sleeping bag. But if you don’t rise early you miss some of the most sublime moments of the day in the high country. And, I promise, once you are up and about you’ll be glad that you made the effort.

On this morning it was almost too dark to photograph when I unzipped the tent, and for the first half hour or longer I photographed in the soft blue hour light. Eventually the first direct sunlight touched peaks high above me and gradually worked its way down the steep slopes toward “my” lake. (At about the time I made this photograph, my non-photographer backcountry partners were starting to awaken in their tents on the peninsula at the right.)

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.

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

Shoreline in Shadows

Image Leave a comment
Shoreline in Shadows
“Shoreline in Shadows” — An eastern Sierra lake, surrounded by meadows and forest and reflecting talus slopes, in early morning shadows.

While we love to photograph mountain light, sometimes it can be tricky. I photographed this scene in the early morning. I had gone out well before sunrise, planning to spend some time working with the soft light before the direct sunshine arrived. The the sunlight first touched peaks high above the distant talus slope, then began to descend toward the lake. I made this photograph while the directly-lit talus field was just outside the frame, and moments later things were very bright!

This is, at least for me, the kind of scene that I don’t immediately “see” as a photograph. But when I do I intuitively work out some kind of composition, moving forward and backward, left and right, higher and lower, and adjusting focal length until it just seems to come together.

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.

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

Afternoon Light

Image Leave a comment
Afternoon Light
“Afternoon Light” — Storms build as late afternoon light shines on a Sierra ridge, across the water from a rocky bluff and a patch of snow.

In the backcountry I usually spend the first and last few hours of the day photographing. In the morning I’m up before sunrise and not back in camp for hours. I head out again hours before sunset and usually keep at it until it is nearly dark. I made this photograph near the start of one of those afternoon sessions, as shadows lengthened and clouds from nearby storms added drama to the landscape.

The parallel forms of the very close and very distant ridges caught my attention, along with the beautiful green color of the inclined meadow on the other side of the lake. Technically this was a fairly difficult exposure, due to the difference between the brilliant white of sunlit clouds and the deep shadows in the left foreground exceeded that capabilities of my (or just about any) camera.

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.

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Tufa, Island, Distant Mountains

Image Leave a comment
Tufa, Island, Distant Mountains
“Tufa, Island, Distant Mountains” — Shoreline tufa formations, an island, and distant mountains, Mono Lake.

This view looks roughly north across the expanse of Mono Lake and Mono Basin. The foreground formations are tufa towers, exposed as the lake’s level dropped decades ago when Los Angeles began taking the water from feeder streams. The main body of the lake lies beyond the tufa. What appears to be the far shoreline is actually Paoha Island, a volcanic feature. In the far distance are desert mountains of the basin and range country.

I knew some history about the fights over Mono Lake’s water, but I learned something new on this visit. A few decades ago Los Angeles Water and Power bought out water rights up and down the Eastern Sierra, drastically changing the environment — and in places turning former lakes into dusty wastelands. This taking dropped the level of Mono Lake by many feet (it was too late for Tule Lake in Owen’s Valley) until court orders and regulations forced an agreement that LA would begin to protect the watershed, with a goal of eventually restoring the lake to a level closer to its historic level. I thought that serious progress had been made… but decades later the lake’s level is still dangerously low.

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

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

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